Securing Soraya
by Titania56
Summary: Working for the Savant Net, Soraya has been in her fair share of tricky situations. But this one has to be the worst. If she can escape the hell she's been landed in, what will become of her life? When everything seems to be working out, why does the world has a habit of turning around and dumping the unexpected on her? A story of trust, danger, and bravery.
1. Preface

**Authors Note: Ok, so this is my first fanfiction, thought I'd give it a go! I'm always coming up with little stories about the Benedicts in my head, so decided to actually write something! I hope you enjoy it, I would love to hear what you think so please review!**

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It was too bright. It always was. I began my usual routine, which consisted mainly of screwing up the eyes until they hurt, arm thrown across my face in a shielding gesture, and several cries and moans of complaint which all added up to a gradual reawakening of my eyes to process light once again. By the time I had accomplished full vision it was almost time to go back inside again. Back in to the dark, dingy hovel of a place that was and had been my prison for nearing 3 months now. Back in to my own personal hell.

My name is Soraya Abdali, I am 26 years old, and I am in hell.


	2. Chapter 1

Literally - it felt like hell. The heat alone, which was another obstacle hindering my weekly adventure to the outside world, would be enough to convince anyone they were residing in the deepest, darkest pits of our earth. The air was hot and dry, and caught in your throat when you breathed in. I had one hell of a raspy voice thanks to it. Combined with the less than friendly treatment I had been receiving, well let's just say I wasn't exactly living the life of luxury.

Being an inhabitant of London, England, I didn't cope well with the heat. My genes did nothing to help me acclimatise to it either. My lineage hails from the exact country I was now being held in, Afghanistan. My parents moved over to England at a young age, so I was born and bred as English. My name and appearance, deeply tanned skin and poker straight black hair, are the only evidence of my Afghani genes. In my opinion, I am English, and always will be. I am an only child, a rare occurrence among soulfinder couples such as my parents. Parents who had now all but disowned me due to my yearning to do the right thing however. Although not outright opposers of the Savant Net, my parents made no effort to hide their disapproval of it. Their views? We savants should be left to our own devices, our business is our own and what would be would be. Let the strands of fate weave whatever screwed up pattern they please. Yeh right. The world would go to pot without the Net monitoring and cracking down on the rouge savants, or the ones who think they're above everyone else, including humans. Our existence, which remains a closely guarded secret, only remains so due to the Net.

So I joined it, much to my parents joy. I worked my way up the ranks to one of the inner circles of trust within the main Net group in England. And it felt good. I was making a difference and protecting the existence of the people I was so proud to belong to. Up until the point my desire to do good landed me in the shit. Yes, little old me had to go and volunteer for an op in a war zone.

I was no solider, and we all knew it would be no walk in the park, we all knew the risks involved. But the draw of our op was too compelling for me to ignore – I was the first to sign up. But not two hours after landing in that desert, it'd gone to hell.

I still don't know exactly what happened, I don't know what happened to my team. I don't know what became of the op, or what happened to the savant group we were there to dig out of the crap. It was a mess. My head was ringing with echoes of gunshots for hours after, hours I had spent with a bag over my head in a heat trap of a van, bumping along handmade roads with potholes big enough to flaw a tank. The heat, combined with the lack of fluids in my system and the constant violent jostling I was enduring resulted in the contents of my stomach making an appearance, on more than one occasion. Not pretty with a hemp bag over my head. I was completely in the dark and had been to this day.

I had held onto the hope the Net would come and rescue me for the first few weeks. I was a valuable asset to them after all, my gift was fairly unique. Then I came to the conclusion they were looking, and failing to find me. Something, or someone was blocking them from locating me. That reasoning had failed when I worked out my captors weren't savants. They were just local people, insurgents looking for a pretty penny for the safe return of a British citizen. Little did they know I had zero family who would actually pay a ransom for my return. I had gleaned all this from the broken bits of English I had overheard whilst wishing I had tried harder when my parents tried to teach me their native language of Dari when I was younger. Hindsight can be a bitch sometimes.

For the second time that day, after being thrown back into my cell from my weekly outdoor excursion, I had my gourmet meal of stale bread and murky water delivered through the wooden door. I barely raised my head from my slumped position against the cool mud walls of my cell. Instead I drew my knees closer to my chest, arms wrapped tight around them, protecting what little of my soul was left inside me, and already anticipating the kick I knew was coming.

Right hand side, upper leg today. I didn't make a sound, though the pain shooting down my entire leg was excruciating. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction. I remained locked in position until I heard the door lock click back into place. I grabbed the bread from where it'd been thrown on the dusty floor, and devoured it despite its less than fresh condition. The water however, I savoured. I'd learnt to ration myself, make each small cup last through to the next meal. I wouldn't survive one day here otherwise - water was my lifeline and it was in short supply.


	3. Chapter 2

After so long alone, you don't really know or care what you think about. It all jumbles up in your mind, becoming one long internal monologue. My days consisted of wondering how long until my next delivery of food. All dreams of rescue or escape had long since left my head. The Net weren't coming and my gift was useless in aiding my escape, most people, savant or not didn't stand a chance against AK-47 armed insurgents with nothing to lose. Besides, even if I did escape, it would be into a war torn desert of a country with hidden mines around every corner and opposing forces involved in daily firefights. In a cruel turn of events, the reality of it was I was safer in my cell with my gun wielding captors than if I escaped.

The gunfire, however threateningly present it had always been, had never been remotely close to my mud hut prison. I had never felt truly scared by its proximity. Understandably, it came as a shock when very early one morning, I was woken by the terrifyingly loud sounds of shots ringing out, seemingly right next to my head. Still groggy from sleep, I forced myself into an upright position and dragged my sleep heavy body across the room to form a huddle in the corner. My favoured position of knees pulled tight against my chest was adopted, only this time my hands were clamped over my ears trying to drown out the horrendous bangs causing my skull to thrum with a continuous ache. My eyes were screwed shut, as if not seeing the terror coming ever closer would somehow shield me from them. Louder and louder came the gunshots, accompanied by an incoherent mix of shouts and screams. My fears were becoming reality, and I was stuck right in the middle.

My fear peaked when I heard the doors being smashed in, and all hell broke lose. Shouts came from everywhere, bright lights were flashing all over, illuminating my curled up form in the corner.

"DOWN ON THE FLOOR, NOW!"

"HANDS FLAT ON THE FLOOR QUICKLY!"

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

"CLEAR!"

"CLEAR!"

"ALL CLEAR!"

Many shouts were reverberating around the small hut, seemingly centered in my small room. I hurriedly forced my body out of my cramped position and threw myself flat onto the floor, hands spread out on either side of my head. I lay there shaking and unknowing. It took a while for me to register the voice calling in my ear.

"Miss? Miss? Miss can you hear me? I'm Sergeant Lukers, I'm with the U.S. Marines. Don't worry Miss, we're here to get you out."

U.S. Marines? Get you out? My heart skipped a beat. My head was finally catching up with the situation. I registered the clean, unbroken English with the American twang, and the fact I wasn't actually bleeding out from bullet wounds I had sat there anticipating. No, these people, were in fact here to rescue me. After nearly 3 months of waiting, it took me what seemed a lifetime to catch up and actually believe I wasn't dreaming. The next few minutes rushed by in a blur, as I was gently helped up from the dusty floor and a canteen filled with beautiful clean, pure water was pushed into my hand. Old habits surfacing, I drank it sparingly rather than gulping it as I would have liked.

"Don't worry Miss, we have plenty of water. You drink as much as you like."

The kind sounding young marine who gave me the water was supporting me with an arm around my waist as I drank, unaware of the reasons for my actions. As I stood there allowing the water to revitalise and replenish me, I could hear Sergeant Lukers on the radio calling for transport.

"Yes, exfil required to arranged location at 0-500 hours….. Yes, target has been acquired with zero casualties…."

Around us the rest of the marine troop were keeping busy, securing hostiles or checking ammunition and kit and a guard had been set up outside. They were a well oiled machine, each man knowing their job to do and doing it without question or complaint. It was comforting to know I was with the professionals now. For the first time in 3 months, I felt safe.

A slight pressure on my waist drew me back into the present – the young marine supporting me was ushering me out the door.

"Now Miss are you listening closely? I know you're tired and quite rightly distressed, but we have to move out and I need you to do exactly as I say, ok?"

I looked up into the man's eyes and nodded, yes, I understood.

"Ok great. I'm gonna need you to stay real close to me, stay on my hip ok. Can you walk ok on your own?" Another nod from me prompted him to continue. "Good, we have a bit of a hike outta here but from there it's plain sailing!"

His cheery optimism had even me believing I was actually getting out of this hell hole! I did what he said and all but hugged his hip as we left the protection of the hut. But I had forgotten the brightness.

"Wait, wait, my eyes…. I can't see yet, the brightness!" I called as we emerged. The cheery marine stopped and took my hand and placed it on his arm.

"Sorry but we have to keep moving. We're too exposed here. Keep your hand on my arm and I'll guide you."

I nodded an ok and set off beside the marine, beginning my usual eye adjustment routine. It wasn't long before I could see well enough to walk unaided, and I got my first real glimpse of my rescuers. They were all dressed the same, in sandy coloured camouflage clothes with matching round helmets on. The Stars and Stripes were pinned to each of their arms on the left shoulder, a proud display of their nationality. Each carried a large pack, and of course a gun. Their heavy laced boots left huge indents in the soft sand as we walked, making me wonder how they made moving look so effortless in this difficult terrain. I had no pack and nothing to carry and I was struggling. Several times I had slipped as we trudged on along the sandy tracks, once having to be helped up.

"Here you go Miss, I'll help you." My kind marine offered.

"Thank you," I said taking his hand. "I'm sorry I'm not usually this bad at walking, it's been a while is all." I tried lightening the mood, for my own sake more than anyone else.

"Haha, damn British and their manners!" Another marine joked as he walked past me

"It's alright Miss, I understand. Don't listen to any of these whackos either. They go a bit screw loose out here after a while." He said with a wink, leaning in close so the others wouldn't hear. I couldn't help but laugh a little. These men were remarkably upbeat, considering their situation. They were stuck here. I on the other hand, planned on getting the hell out as soon as possible

We walked for another 15 minutes roughly, before 3 armoured cars came into view, obviously military vehicles. No insurgents of this country would have cars like these. My marine opened the back door of the first car and closed it after I had hopped in. I let my head crash back against the head rest and my eyes slide shut as soon as I was seated. I felt the vehicle jump to life, reminding me of the last time I was in a car. When I had been taken.

It's different this time Soraya, these are the good guys

I tried to tell myself to relax. Easier said than done.

"So Miss what's your name then?"

The driver of my car called into the back, glancing at me in the rear view mirror. Strange, I thought to myself.

"You mean you guys were just sent to rescue me without even being told my name first? Kinda weird isn't it?" I questioned him.

"Well yeh, this one kinda has been weird. All we got told was there was some English chick needed rescuing out here, and we were given our orders."

Guessing the Net had ordered my rescue, I asked him so.

"The what, the Net? Never heard of it Miss. Nah, it was some hotshot FBI guy, swans in demanding we send a team out for you. Course the big boss was having none of it, well not until this FBI boyo has a private word and suddenly hey presto, our head honcho is sending us out for you! Need to know only basis. We've been taught not to ask questions so we don't."

To say I was confused was an understatement. FBI? I'd never even been to America let alone had dealings with the FBI. Why on earth would they be sending a guy out to rescue me?

"So you must be pretty important Miss, caused quite a stir back at base you have! Your FBI guy's waiting there for you too. Been quite riled up since he arrived. So, what about that name then?"

My guy?! Uh uh, I was clueless!

"Err, Soraya, Soraya Abdali." I replied absentmindedly. I was still pondering out my supposed FBI guy, and still was as I dropped off to sleep.

What seemed only two minutes later, I was roused from my sleep once more. Out of the window of the car, I could see two very large helicopters waiting to take off. Once again, the cheery marine put a hand around my waist as we jumped out of the cars and jogged over to the waiting helis.

"OK, SO STAY LOW AND MOVE QUICKLY. I'LL COVER YOUR HEAD AND KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED SO YOU DON'T GET SAND IN THEM!"

He was shouting in my ear as the noise from the helis became overpoweringly loud. As we approached, the marine pushed me lower so I was bent at a 90 degree angle from my waist. Screwing my eyes shut, the back draft and noise from the helicopter got louder until there was shouting in my ear to open my eyes. I opened them to find myself stood right beside the heli, with a helping hand being offered to pull me inside. Once inside, I was strapped in to an uncomfortable seat, while the marines piled all their kit in around me and themselves. As soon as everyone was in we took off, the swooping sensation making an appearance in my stomach. As we climbed I took the opportunity to take in my surroundings. All I could see for miles was sand and hills and the odd mud village here and there, pretty much the same as the one I was held in. I nodded off to sleep dreaming of rolling green hills and lively forests and streams and lakes and all things British.


	4. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: So I'm gonna be updating this quite quickly, I prefer to write a lot at once and there's no point not uploading my chapters! Thank you for the reviews so far, I appreciate them all! I look forward to your feedback on the next instalment, thanks for reading!**

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This time I woke up of my own accord. Most of the surrounding marines were softly dozing, having sacrificed their sleep for this op. I stole a glance at a watch on the wrist of a nearby man. 5.23am. No wonder I had slept so much, half my nights sleep had been stolen from me. The brightness outside was also deceiving. It felt later in the day than it actually was. My thoughts were interrupted by a crackling over the radio announcing we were now aproaching the base, Camp Dwyer.

The marines around me all slowly started rousing at an unspoken command as we began to descend. A few moved to crouch by the open door, packs and guns already in place, ready to leap out as we landed. Soon the ground was approaching at an alarmingly quick speed, and once more that day I squeezed my eyes tight shut and braced for a rough impact that never came. Of course. These pilots were the best of the best. They didn't do rough landings. I was hurried out of the helicopter by the men who had already exited, and followed the same procedure to be escorted out of the sandstorm created by the continuous circular motion of the heli's blades.

Once a safe distance away, I was allowed to stand up straight again as my saviour helicopters took off once more. As they grew smaller and smaller into the distance, I was able to get a look at my surroundings. We had landed on a large makeshift airfield, I could see a few large military planes sitting further away. My ticket out of here I realised. As we left the airfield, I could see the actual base itself. A few larger, more permanent buildings were visible, but mainly it was made up of tents and trailers, all designed to blend in with the desert colours. We passed through a huge metal gate, heavily guarded by men who shouted hellos to their comrades as we passed, and ogled me with an intense interest. I was surprised to find the base already in full swing, alive with soldiers bustling about already beginning their daily routines. Most paused whatever they were doing to glance at me - I had been told I had caused a bit of a stir in thier camp, a claim which I had brushed aside, until now. We continued our procession deeper into the camp, me all the while wondering where I could just have a shower. The buckets of dirty water I was provided with once a week back in my prison had had zero effect on reducing the layer of grime and sand that had built up over the weeks. But apparently, a shower would have to wait. The marine closest to me bent down to murmur in my ear as we walked.

"That's him over there. The FBI guy. Hasn't slept all night apparently, waiting for you." He said, pointing towards one of the open sided tents.

As we drew closer and I could see him better, I was still drawing a blank. Seeing him in person triggered no recollection in my head, although what I did recognise was his outstandingly good looks.

Oh boy was he gorgeous.

There were no two ways about it, this man was rocking some seriously good genes. He was tall, slim but obviously muscular. They'd dressed him in the same standard issue combat trousers, t-shirt and laced boots, all the same sandy colour. His deep black hair stood out against the beiges of his clothes, the sleek ponytail he was sporting framing his striking grey eyes and angular face. No wonder he had turned up and these soldiers had immediately jumped at his command, everything from his posture to his facial expression screamed authority. He was also very intimidating, even to the mass of soldiers surrounding me it appeared. His sharp facial features however did nothing to hide the beauty of it. I was more than happy to appreciate his good looks from afar after 3 months of near isolation. Yep, this man was like all my Christmas presents wrapped up in one.

Observing from afar didn't last long though. The mystery man rose from the bench he was sitting on and began marching straight for me. Oh man, even his walk was sexy.

 _No, stop it Soraya. Focus. You need to know who the hell he is._

He was maintaining a steady eye contact the entire time, only stopping when he was right infront of me. He held out his right hand, which I took to shake. Instead he pulled my hand horizontally so his was underneath and placed his other hand on top of mine, cradling it gently.

"Soraya.."

His voice was deep, but smooth like caramel. It made my heart give a little flutter. But however deep it was, nothing could hide the undertones his one word was laced with. It was full of love and endearment, and a tidal wave of relief. I gazed back up into his eyes, not even caring that this complete stranger was talking to me like we had known each other years not seconds. I felt safe. He, felt safe to me.

The man suddenly seemed to remember himself and dropped my hand, regaining his authoritative demeanour. Clearing his throat, he introduced himself.

"Miss Abdali, I am Agent Victor Benedict of the FBI." He paused, adding an after thought. "I also work for the Net."


	5. Chapter 4

My god. The Net? I didn't even care how this Man knew my name, they did come for me after all! I felt a wave of relief wash over me - I felt acceptance again. They did care, and they had sent none other than a Benedict for me! I'd heard of the Benedicts of course, just about every savant had. We all had our big players within the Net in each country, the main families running the show - we had the Grays in England, the Coopers in Australia, and it was the Benedicts in America. I'd never met any of them before now, but they were big news. And one was stood right infront of me acting like I was his best friend in the world although I was pretty sure his family filled that category.

"I apologise for the time we've taken to retrieve you, operating in a war zone isn't exactly a walk in the park. I also wasn't informed about your situation until fairly recently. We were finally able to get the necessary arrangements and permissions in place for your extraction a few days ago, so we will be flying out of here later this afternoon. I'm right in thinking you're estranged from your parents?" He was in complete FBI agent mode, in full flow. Of course he knew about my parents, he continued without waiting for my reply. "And no extended family? That's good, it simplifies matters. We'll be flying out to a military base in Colorado, Buckley Air Force Base just outside Denver to be precise. From there we'll.."

"Wait wait wait…" I interrupted. "Denver? As in, America Denver? Why the hell am I going to America?!"

I was all flustered. What the hell was this Benedict talking about? I might not have any family in England, but it was my home, I had friends there I was dying to see and a flat which no doubt was in need of my attention.

"And what do you mean simplifies matters? What the hell are talking about Benedict?!" I all but yelled.

Victor looked taken aback, caught off guard, something I had a feeling didn't happen to him much. I held my ground, staring him down. After a minute, he managed to regain his composure enough to counter argue.

"Soraya, I really think you'll want to come with me. I can't explain right now, but I want you to trust me. I'm going to look after you Soraya, I promise." His eyes softened from their steely gaze as he returned my stare. I could feel the layers of persuasion seeping in and clouding my mind. Damn savant. I knew exactly what he was doing - he was exercising some form of a gift, some mind control. I threw up my shields but too late, I found myself already succumbing to it.

"Ok Victor. I want to come with you to America." And as I spoke the words, I found myself truly believing them. I wanted to go with this man.

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9 hours later, I found myself on yet another military plane. This time, Victor Benedict was seated beside me sleeping softly. I'd had the best shower I can remember ever taking, despite having a limited time for it. Soldier or not, I had to adhere to the strict military protocols and had a time limit for my shower to conserve water. I hadn't had time to shave, but still, I was dirt free and smelt nice for the first time in months. I had been issued with standard military clothing to replace my filthy rags, I was now matching the sleeping form next to me. I hadn't been able to find my saviours, the marine team who had risked their lives to pull me from my hell, to thank them. I didn't even know their names. Sighing, I let my head roll back against the seat rest. I didn't know what was going to become of me now, what was going to happen to my life. And I didn't know if I was going to be alright mentally, but what I did know was I was more than happy to be sat here with Victor Benedict beside me, trusting him entirely.


	6. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews! This is a nice long exciting chapter, or at least I hope it is! Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing what you all think of this latest chapter!**

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We had landed in Denver 15 hours later with the inevitable jet lag which was going to make an appearance looming over me. The cool mountain air was a shock to the system - I had become accustomed to breathing in the desperately dry, rough Afghani air which made your throat sore. The Denver air was as refreshing as the first gulp of clean water I had taken, it was delightful. Victor smiled down at me as we strolled side by side towards the main building of this army base.

"Welcome to Colorado Soraya." Victor said with a little smile gracing his lips. He was obviously very proud of his home state, and I could understand why. It was breathtaking. The Rockies were visible in the distance, a stunning backdrop to the office blocks and skyscrapers rising from the city. I returned his smile with a shy glance up at him. His words of persuasion earlier were beginning to wear off, and I was starting to question my actions, and Victor.

I felt a faint tingling in the back of my mind as I walked along. Huh. Benedict was using telepathy. I found myself wondering with whom, but I got my answer soon as we entered the building. A young couple who clearly weren't military personnel stood with broad smiles on their faces. The man, who stood well over 6 foot had a crop of thick dark brown hair and had his arm casually wrapped around the beautiful woman's shoulders. He could be no other than one of Victor's brothers - the resemblance was remarkable.

The brother moved forward to greet Victor and slapped him on the back as they hugged, a knowing smile on his face. The two stayed close together, heads bowed talking in a mix of murmuring and telepathy. The young woman approached me with a friendly smile.

"Hi! You just be Soraya? I'm Diamond, Victor's sister-in-law. It's nice to finally meet you. How was your journey? You must be tired?"

She enveloped me in a warm hug, as she stepped back I looked her up and down. This young woman, Diamond, was one of the most immaculately presented people I had ever seen. I guessed she was a few years older than me, with sleek brown hair cut into a stylish bob. She was beautiful in a effortless way, a 'make you wish you were her' way. Her accent was also a strange combination, but above all English triumphed. I had time to mutter a quick hello in reply, before the two brothers broke apart and turned to me. The man smiled and stretched out his hand to introduce himself.

"Soraya. Trace Benedict. This ones older brother and husband to this lovely lady." he said, with a gesture to Diamond and Victor in turn, Victor who had moved to my side. He had placed a comforting hand lightly on the small of my back. "How are you?" Trace finished.

My typical English manners came back to the surface.

"Hi, yes I'm good now thank you. It's nice to meet you both." I replied. I was slightly perplexed, I didn't quite know what was going on. Here I was meeting more and more Benedicts with no explanations.

"Glad to hear it. I suppose we had better get moving, mom'll be going crazy!"

Victor and Diamond both gave a knowing laugh at Trace's words. Clearly an inside joke.

"Shall we?" Victor asked me gently.

"Can I just talk to you for a second, please Victor?"

Trace and Diamond looked like they wanted to stay, but one look from Victor made them rethink. They left hand in hand, informing Victor his car was parked out front for us, they were going to pick up Will before heading home. Will? Another brother I presumed.

I was an independant person, I could look after myself and wouldn't take any crap from anyone. My stunt with my parents had proved that when I joined the Net. I was going to get my answers. I turned to Victor with a sigh.

"Ok. I'm not quite sure what's going on here Victor, but I need some explanation. You expect me to just jump on a plane and come with you to your home? I'm not sure what stunt you pulled back in Afghanistan but I wanted to come here, I can't deny that. But this," I gestured around me, and to where his brother and wife had just left, " this is crazy. Suddenly I'm meeting your whole family? I need answers. Now."

Victor stared at me for a long minute before coming to a decision.

"Ok." he said. "I understand. Come with me."

With that, he took my hand and led me outside the army base. I felt a spark of electricity run through our entwined fingers when he took my hand. He must have felt it too. Strange, I thought to myself, but we didn't stop until we reached a sleek black car. Victor turned to me and took a deep breath.

"I need you to listen to the whole story, please. It'll make sense if I start at the beginning. Ok?"

He looked at me with such earnest I simply nodded.

"I volunteered to go and find you when I found out you were captured in Afghanistan. How did I find out? I did some digging. My younger brother's soulfinder, and Diamond's sister Crystal, is a soulseeker. I'm guessing you know what a soulseeker is?"

I nodded, trying to keep my composure, my heart hammering out of my chest. Was this going where I thought it was? Victor continued.

"Crystal gave me a lead. Said my soulfinder was in Afghanistan, captured and held against her will. I used my law enforcement connections in England to get names, tied those with ones from the Net's database. It took me a while, but I finally came up with one name. Soraya Abdali."

My name. I was breathless. All I could do was stare at this man, this complete stranger who was claiming, well he was claiming to be mine. My soulfinder.

I don't think either of us were breathing at this point, and I could almost feel the tension projecting off his body. What was he tense about? My response? Rejection? The possibility I didn't want to know my soulfinder?

"H..h…how can you be sure? S..sure it's me?" I stumbled over my words, my voice shaking as much as my hands were. Victor took both my hands and held them steady in his own unshaking hands, and looked me in the eye.

"Soraya I knew from the moment I first saw you walking towards me at that base. I felt you, here," he dropped one of my hands to point to his head " and here…" Pointing to his heart.

" _Soraya, you're my soulfinder."_

He had switched to telepathy and suddenly I knew. I knew to the deepest depths of my heart, to the blood running through my veins, with every fibre of my being, this was my soulfinder. I felt a rush of emotion as the part of my soul that I'd lost in Afghanistan came flooding back to me all at once, answering to its opposite, it's equal, it's true mate. Victor Benedict.

I was a mess. My emotions were overwhelming, I was surrounded by an array of feelings, mainly happy ones. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as all I could do was hang on to Victor as he took me in his strong, capable arms and held me. My head was mush, going round in circles but always returning to one thought, one heartwarmingly endearing thought.

 _My soulfinder had come for me. My soulfinder had saved me._

 _"I'll always come for you baby. I'll always be there, always."_

Victor's rich, gentle voice floated into my head, a welcome guest that filled my heart with warmth. I drew back to look up at him, look at my soulfinder properly for the first time. His arms remained gently looped around my waist as his normally steely grey eyes were like liquid silver – it felt like the most natural thing in the world to stretch up my on tiptoes and place my lips gently against his soft, pink mouth.


	7. Chapter 6

Victor didn't let the kiss go far. Neither of us particularly wanted it to anyway. My hands remained on his firm, muscular chest while one of his left my waist to cup my cheek. We both pulled back slightly, but only to touch our foreheads to each other. I hadn't said a word, like I was scared my voice would break our precious connection or something, but it was stupid really. The soulfinder link was one of the strongest in the world, stronger than any family ties. And I could feel it, like it was alive roping me to him. There was no breaking it, nothing could separate us.

" _I can't believe…"_ I projected into Victor's head.

" _I know. It's a miracle. I felt like I knew you before I'd even met you."_

My first telepathic conversation with my soulfinder. I was going to have to get used to firsts I felt.

" _Definitely are babe."_ Victor replied to my unspoken thought. I smiled up at him before dropping my gaze shyly. Intimidating, authoritative Victor, my soulfinder, calling me babe.

" _You're the only one who'll ever get called that, believe me_." He said with a smirk, before drawing his head away from mine, and producing a set of car keys from his pocket. Unlocking the car he led me around to the passenger side.

"We really should be heading now. My mom is a force to be reckoned with." he told me with a glance back and a wink. Being a true gentleman he held the door open and closed it after I had slid onto the plush leather seat. Clicking my seatbelt into place, I watched as Victor slid into the seat beside me, offering me a small grin.

"It's just over an hour to Wrickenridge, that's where my family lives. Not too long thankfully."

Bringing the car to life, I studied him as he pulled out of the army base. Dealing efficiently with the guards at the barriers, we left Buckley Air Force Base behind, hopefully forever.

I decided to go digging in Victor's head. I felt it was time I knew what I was going to be dealing with since I would be spending the rest of my life with the man. My gift, was unique to the best of my knowledge. My gift was to identify others gifts. I could also identify when and which savants were using telepathy, or doing telekinesis, they were both gifts after all. I could give a pretty good overview of just about any gift of any savant anywhere. I'd never been tricked and never got it wrong, and no shield however strong could keep me out. It was very useful to the Net, bringing me onto ops made them all safer, as I was able to evaluate the opposing savants and identify any potential threats. I'd saved countless lives by allowing the Net to have certain procedures in place to combat any particularly troublesome savants. Easing into Victor's mind, I felt a very strong shield was in place, but I merely brushed past it like it didn't exist. Victor's mind was fascinating, layer upon layer of details and thoughts and questions. I investigated his gift, concluding it was a form of mental persuasion. He could compel anyone to do what he wanted, answer any question, or persuade anyone of anything. I gleaned that although his gift was applied via telepathy, he was able to exercise a certain degree of persuasion through normal conversation. Like he'd done to me in Afghanistan.

"Is that you?" Victor asked suddenly, turning his head sharply to look at me.

Oh crap. He had felt my presence in his head. I looked down at my knees quickly, embarrassed. My cheeks flushed as blood rushed to the surface.

"Umm, yes, sorry." I muttered.

"It's ok. I have nothing in my head to hide. You can see it all, just give me some warning next time hey?"

With a smile he took my hand in one of his as he spoke, pulling it over to rest on his leg. His hand remained on top of mine, as he slowly rubbed his thumb back and forth.

"Sorry." I said again. "I was just getting an idea of your gift."

"Oh?" He replied, showing an interest.

"Yeh, it's kinda my gift." I looked up, and took his lack of response as my cue to continue. "I identify others gifts. I can get a general overview of any gift of any savant. I can also sense telepathy and telekinesis, they're both gifts after all."

"Really? Very interesting." Victor replied. "And very handy actually. No wonder the Net found you useful. Can people shield you out, stop you entering their minds?"

"Nope. No one ever has. I mean I feel them, I felt yours – it was really strong. But there's no resistance, nothing. I just, glide past them."

"Hmm… Best watch you then hey? I'm not used to people getting into my head." He said with a smirk.

We lapsed back into a comfortable silence, with Victor only releasing my hand every now and then to change gear. I left my hand resting on his thigh when he did, waiting for him to take it again. Once we hit the interstate out of Denver heading west, he held it the entire way. I turned my attention to the surrounding country side. It was a far cry from the typical English country sides was used to. Mile after mile of various species of pines stretched out, blanketing the hills and valleys. Mountains covered with wild flowers dominated every horizon, dotted with a few pines on the lower slopes and the highest peaks still dusted with patches of determined snow.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Victor broke the silence.

"Yeh, it's amazing." I replied breathlessly.

"I was lucky to grow up here. Cheesy as it is, the mountains will always feel like my home." He said with a sweet smile.


	8. Chapter 7

We continued deeper into the Colorado countryside, into the real heart of the state. Gradually we would climb higher heading along amountain pass after mountain pass, before dropping down again. Finally we turned off the main road and climbed up into another mountain range, and this time didn't drop down. We entered a small town, with signs stating we were entering Wrickenridge. A quick glance at the clock told me it was approaching 8pm, although it was still light this high up in the mountains. As the Benedicts lived at the top end of the town, up near the ski slopes I got to see the majority of Wrickenridge. It was a relatively small, quaint town, obviously an outdoorsy place I observed. Every other shop was offering some form of outdoor equipment, mainly ski gear. Victor caught me glancing at all of the different shops.

"You ever been skiing?" He asked me.

I replied with a laugh.

"Yes, once. I wasn't very good, but it was great fun!" I admitted.

"Well we're a big skiing family. Kinda have to be, the family runs the ski lifts in the winter." He glanced at me, enjoying telling me about his family. "My brother Xavier, the one with Crystal, the soulseeker, he's the best skier. Current Colorado Junior Champion actually. I'm sure he could take you out if you wanted. Or mom or dad. They're both ski instructors."

"What do they do in summer then? Obviously there's no snow…"

Victor replied with a smile.

"Yeh well done Einstein!" He glanced quickly at me with a grin. "We run an outdoor centre, white water rafting, kayaking and the sort. Anything outdoorsy, we do it!"

His family were all complete outdoor junkies apparently.

"You sound like the opposite to me, I'm afraid. All I want is a nice shower and a comfy bed. Some home luxuries."

"Well that's understandable after what you've been through though, but don't worry. You don't have to fit into that lifestyle. I live in Denver anyway, work for the FBI. I'm not as crazy as the others. Diamond isn't keen on outdoor pursuits either, her and Trace live in Denver too. We're not all mountain men!" He exaggerated his American accent on the last two words, throwing his point home, to which I laughed. I'd only know the man a day or so, and already we were thinking how our lives would fit together. It was a scary thought, but at the same time it was somehow comforting. As I pondered, I felt the tingle of telepathy being used and looked across at Victor.

"Just checking ahead." He offered with a smile.

A few minutes later we reached the top of a mountain track.

"Here we are… Home sweet home baby."

At Victor's words I turned to look out the front window at the house nestled infront of a huge pine forest, and beside the now snowless ski runs. As we stepped out of the car, the front door to the house flew open and a tiny fire cracker of a woman bustled out, followed by a towering man.

"Oh Vicky, I'm so glad you're safe! I've been worried sick, if I hadn't seen you were going to be fine I would've flown over there myself. I understand your reasons, you had to go for your girl but honestly Vick, Afghanistan? Of all the places…" The woman continued to fuss around Victor like the mother hen I could tell she was.

"Mom, it's ok. I'm fine honest. Look, mom…"

His mother was having none of it though. I stood slightly to the side not quite knowing what to do with myself. I could see other boys crowding the door way, all peering out. The man who had followed Victor's mom out approached me, pulling me into a hug which carried the power of the mountains. He smelt like pine, and smoke, and sweet earth. Pulling back, he smiled sweetly at me.

"Soraya, welcome to our home." He said warmly, his deep voice rumbling from his chest. He was tall, well over 6 foot. It was clear to see where Victor and Trace got their height from, I presumed the other brothers were all graced with this height and good looks too. "I'm Saul Benedict, Victor's father. Do call me Saul. That's my wife Karla, you'll have to forgive her, she's been very worried about our son, and you for that matter!" He put an arm around my shoulders and began to guide me slowly towards the house, with Victor still cornered by his mother fluttering about. I glanced over my shoulder at him and received an apologetic shrug.

"You have a lovely home, Saul." I said shyly for conversation sake.

"Why thank you, I find it's the family who make the home truly a home though, and mine is therefore very special."

He was wise, obviously full of knowledge passed down through his generations. He was a local man, born and bred in Colorado. As we approached he front door, the people crowding either retreated back in or spilt outside towards us. I spotted Trace and Diamond, and offered them a smile. Diamond welcomed me again.

"Hi Soraya, hope you enjoyed the journey. It's really something huh?"

"Yeh definitely, it was beautiful." I smiled at her. She was lovely, a bit of a mother hen herself. Trace wrapped an arm around her and bent down to kiss her temple, evidently completely in love with his soulfinder. I looked around at the other figures. The tallest one, the one responsible for the non stop chatter I had been hearing in the back ground stepped forward.

"Hey Soraya. Xavier if I've annoyed you, Xav for everyday purposes." he said with a wink, shaking my hand at the same time. "Obviously I'm gonna be your favourite, just putting it out there!"

Xavier, the joker of the family. Sometimes too much of a joker apparently.

"Hi, Xavier..." I said purposefully using his full name with a smirk. I got a jokey smile in response.

"Ooh, bite me. Y'know I reckon all that time in captivity screwed with your head, you lost those stunning people skills you Brits are so famed for?"

Ouch. My stint imprisoned was still too fresh for me to laugh at his joke. My head dropped and I suddenly found a rock on the dusty ground fascinating as my eyes bored into it.

"Xavier!"

Victor's sharp voice sounded behind me, angrily. He came to my side, having finally escaped his mother and I felt a supportive arm around my shoulders drawing me into a warm chest. Victor was angry, angry Xavier dare upset his soulfinder with such a touchy subject. Somehow, Xav wasn't discouraged.

"Alright, alright, too soon I get it. Soz Soraya. But seriously, _Vicky_ , do I have to like, salute you two or something? I'm digging the outfits guys, remind me to ask Crystal if they're the new latest fashion. His'n'hers? Might have to invest." Some of the other boys hid their laughs, obviously knowing better than to encourage Xav and oppose Vic. Victor was scary, especially when he was angry.

"Xavier, I swear to god…"

Victor was cut off by a tall, stunning, curly haired girl pushing through the door to reach Xav.

"Honestly Xav, someone's going to hit you one day you know? Give it a break, learn when enoughs enough!" This girl could only be Crystal, his soulfinder, with her polished English accent, as she wrapped her arms around one of his. Not one to be deterred, Xav had one last dig.

"I know, but honestly Vick, think you can lend me that outfit one day?" he sniggered.

"For gods sake Xav!" Crystal gave a cry of desperation and marched her soulfinder off into the house to have words.

Victor bent down close to murmur in my ear.

"I'm sorry baby, Xav can be an idiot, but that's just Xav. We love him for it. Are you ok?" I nodded silently, returning my attention to the remainder of people stood around the doorway. Any other day I'd find Xavier hilarious, but today it was just too fresh, too recent in my memory. Victor's mother Karla claimed me next, throwing her mother hen act on to me. It had been a long time since I'd interacted with such a mumsy person, I was unsure how to act. Karla was showering me with love and affection, and concern. I'd never had anyone show such concern for me before. Victor noticing my discomfort, came to my aid.

"Mom, let's go inside. There's still all the others Soraya needs to meet, and we're both tired, jetlag y'know." He said as gently as he could.

"Oh, of course, of course my sweets. Come on in." Karla positioned herself between Victor and I and guided us both into the house with a hand behind each of our backs. We were ushered into the living room where I was taken aback by the number of people occupying it.

Nearest the door, the only single guy.

"Hey, Will." He said offering his hand. My first impression - easy going, laid back. He seemed cool.

In turn, everyone introduced themselves. Uriel, his South African soulfinder Tarryn, a proper introduction to the soulseeker, Crystal, boy genius Yves and his quirky soulfinder Phoenix, or more commonly Phee. And the youngest Benedict, Zed - scary and almost as intimidating looking as Victor. He was matched with the tiny and delicate blonde, Sky. She was lovely, and English, originating from near me in London.

" _Yeh, it's difficult not to like Sky. She's a sweetheart"_ Victor said in my head. It was nice to have a comforting voice in there, after all the madness. He was hanging by the door, involved in a conversation with his brother Uriel. But he'd been dipping into my mind every now and again, checking up, making sure I wasn't overwhelmed. As time ticked on, I grew more and more tired, and making polite conversation was becoming more of a task. The other Benedicts were still in full flow, laughing and joking together, a true family. Xav was in full entertainer mode, the centre of attention, jumping into everyone's conversations with witty one liners or inappropriate jokes, despite Crystals best efforts to contain her soulfinder. Victor had been in deep conversation with the two oldest brothers, Trace and Uriel, and their father. It was a bizarre scene, that I had been thrown into. As 10 o'clock approached, I had to give in to the tiredness.

" _Victor_?"

He replied immediately, looking over at me.

" _Yeh? Are you ok?"_

 _"Yes, I'm just really tired. I'm struggling._ " I admitted with a wry grin.

" _Yeh me too. It's ok, I reckon we've more than socialised enough for tonight. Bed time_?"

I nodded, and stood up to meet him as he came over to me.

"Soraya and I are beat, we're gonna head to bed," Victor announced to the room. Karla immediately jumped up.

"Oh of course you are silly me. I didn't even think. Do you need anything Soraya? Hot water bottle, glass of water?"

"A glass of water would be great thanks." I replied, adding - "I don't suppose you've a spare toothbrush I could use?"

"There should be a new one in the cupboard in the bathroom upstairs, Victor'll show you where! You can help yourself to any toiletries too, we'll get you some of your own later." Karla called as she got my glass of water from the kitchen. She kissed me good night as the room all called out too. As Victor lead me up the stairs he took my hand.

" _They're quite something huh, my family?_ " He couldn't hide the love and affection in his words.

" _Hah, they defiantly are. Don't expect me to remember who's who for a while!"_

 _"Don't worry, I'll keep you right!"_

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	9. Chapter 8

In Victor's room, a big double bed with silvery grey quilt was beckoning me to sink into it and pass out. Victor went over to his dresser and produced one of his t-shirts.

"You can sleep in this, should be ok. Tarryn's going to lend you some clothes for tomorrow. Is that ok?"

"Yeh, perfect thanks. Can you show me to the bathroom please?"

"Of course, follow me." Victor led me back down the corridor, opening a door for me.

"There should be a toothbrush in that cupboard, if not you can use mine. It's the black one in the holder." He said pointing to the shelf. "I'll leave you to it."

He closed the door, and I locked it after him. The luxury of a normal bathroom was heaven, I spent a while in there. My teeth were brushed to perfection using a new toothbrush I found in the cupboard. I brushed my hair out, before twisting it up into a bun. Lastly I applied some sweet smelling moisturiser to my face, and I felt like a different woman.

Finally satisfied for now, I left the bathroom and returned to Victor's room. He'd changed into a loose t-shirt and grey pyjama bottoms which hung from his hips in an appealing manner. He'd been sat at his desk tapping away on his laptop when I entered. As soon as he spotted me, he closed the lid and came to me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulled me close to him.

"Better now? You smell lovely," he said quietly.

"Mmm, much. Just tired now."

"Yeh. Let's sleep. Take my bed, get a good nights rest baby." He kissed my forehead gently and made to leave the room.

"Wait, where are you sleeping?" I asked as he reached the doorway.

"I'm crashing in Will's room."

"Oh. On the floor?"

"Yes."

Despite my nervous interior, I kept a cool appearance as I glanced down at the floor and offered up the suggestion that both terrified me, and filled me with longing.

"I wouldn't mind, I mean you can sleep in your own bed, as well, with me I mean?" I looked up as I finished, awaiting his reaction.

He moved from the door back towards me quickly and framed my face with his hands..

"Trust me, I want to. I'd like nothing more than to lie down and fall off to sleep with you in my arms. But I can't for two reasons. Firstly, I don't want to push you into anything too quickly, we've only just met. And second, my mother doesn't approve of couples sleeping in the same bed before marriage, soulfinders or not. Believe it or not, my mother terrifies me, and I do not want to face her wrath, I don't have enough energy for it tonight. She's an incredible woman, but you don't cross her. I'll be fine on the floor, if you'll be ok?"

I couldn't help but laugh, unsure whether I was relived or disappointed.

"Ok, I understand. I'll be fine. I'd be fine anywhere with a bed in all honesty!"

"Well, I'd prefer a room without a brother snoring like a chainsaw, but I'll cope too. I'll be right across the corridor if you need anything, ok?"

He seemed to deliberate for a small second, before leaning down and placing his lips softly against mine. Pulling back slightly, he whispered huskily to me,

"Goodnight, Soraya."

And then was gone, closing the bedroom door behind him leaving me breathless.


	10. Chapter 9

I was woken from the deepest sleep I remember every having by an exceptionally handsome face, so much so I thought I was still dreaming.

"Morning beautiful," Victor said with smile, perching on the edge of the bed next to me.

"Eurgh…" was my reply as I buried my head under the pillow. Maybe he'd go away?

"C'mon sleeping beauty, I need you to wake up or you'll never sort your body clock back out."

Withdrawing my head reluctantly, and looked up into those steely grey eyes.

"Fine. What's the time?"

Glancing at his watch, he informed me it was 9.45am. I was tempted to retreat back under my covers like a turtle, but I knew he was right.

"Ok, ok, I'm getting up."

"Good girl, moms saved you some breakfast, and I brought you a towel so you can shower." Victor said as he got up off the bed. "There's some clothes over there for you, from Tarryn, I just need to do some work in here. Come find me when you're done, we'll go down for breakfast, ok?"

He headed over to his desk where his laptop was sat from last night. I shuffled out of the covers and sat cross legged on top of them so I wouldn't be tempted to fall back asleep, my borrowed t-shirt barely covering my thighs where I sat.

"Yeh perfect." I said over a yawn. Victor spun round on his desk chair, leaning back with his hands laced together behind his head. I couldn't help notice his eyes slide down briefly looking at my bare legs.

"Not a morning person hey?"

"Well no, not when my body's still in a different time zone and some rude person insists on waking me up at stupid o'clock in the morning." I replied jokily.

He looked at me with a glint in his eye.

"Well I do apologise Miss Abdali, needs must. You are however permitted to take as long in the shower as you want, we have no restrictions here!"

He seemed to be enjoying this joking conversation between us. I had a feeling Victor was not one to joke all too often. Breaking his eye contact I dropped my head, playing with a loose thread on the quilt cover. I didn't know if I was comfortable with this kind of conversation yet. Thankfully his laptop pinged with emails coming through and he swung around in his chair to look at his screen.

"Sorry baby, I'm gonna have to deal with this," he said apologetically, already absorbed in his work.

"It's ok, I'll go for that shower." I replied hopping off the bed. I headed over to where he'd left the towel and clothes on his dresser. Jeans, a white top with ¾ length sleeves, and clean knickers. I'd have to make do with the bra I took off last night that the army had given me. Scooping it all up, I headed for the bathroom.

I'd never enjoyed a shower so much in my life. I used a bit of every single shower gel and shampoo and smelly product I could find in the shower, and spent ages shaving. I dried off and got dressed in my borrowed clothes. The jeans were slightly too long - Tarryn was a lot taller than me after all. Finally, I brushed my hair out till it sat straight and took a look in the mirror. I looked and felt like I was a different person. I glanced around for some makeup, but came up empty. I'd ask one of the girls later, I would feel better if I put some on.

Heading back into Victors's room, I found him in a deep conversation on his mobile. He turned around as I entered. I held up a hand in apology and made to back out the room, but he shook his head and beckoned me in, nodding to the bed. I sat down on the bed, and zoned out his conversation. I didn't want him to think I was eavesdropping. I decided to ask about that makeup, so in my mind, I felt out for Diamonds spark.

" _Hey, Diamond?"_

I felt her presence enter my mind straight away.

" _Morning Soraya. Sleep well?"_

 _"Yeh, like a baby. Until I was rudely awakened."_ I projected picture of Victor staring over me huddled under my pillow. I felt her tinkling laugh in my head.

" _Typical Vick! Was there something you wanted?"_

 _"Oh, yes. Would you mind if I borrowed some of your makeup? I'd feel so much better with a little bit on."_

 _"Oh of course, are you in Vick's room? I can bring you my stuff!"_

" _Yeh I am, that'd be great, thanks Diamond!"_ I could sense her getting up from her seat in the kitchen and moving up the stairs as she spoke to me again.

" _Crystal and I were thinking of going shopping later on, if you want to come too? Crystal can help you pick out some outfits?"_

Oh. I would love to go shopping, I did need some new clothes since all of mine were back in England. The problem was I didn't have any money or any of my bank cards. And I didn't want to sound like I was scrounging.

" _Em, I would, but I don't have access to any money see…"_ I replied.

" _Oh gosh I didn't think about that! We can pay for your stuff, don't worry!"_

 _"Oh no Diamond I couldn't, I mean I'm going to need a lot of stuff, it'll be expensive!"_

"Nonsense." Diamond said as she came through Victor's door having retrieved her makeup bag from Trace's room. She received a disapproving look from Victor as she realised he was on the phone, and mouthed an oops at me. She beckoned me out into the corridor. Once I was out there the lecture began.

"Now don't give me any of that rubbish, you need new stuff and can't get it on your own. You're coming with us and that's that. Here's my makeup bag, help yourself and we'll head off once you've had something to eat, ok?"

Here was Diamond Benedict, international peacemaker in full flow. I couldn't even offer up any argument, I just stood there clutching her makeup bag like a muppet. I was still stood there when Victor emerged from his room, telephone conversation over. Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, he filled the silence.

"Shopping trip? Good idea. I'd come with you, but I really have to work." He said looking down at me apologetically. "But you can take my card, get yourself everything you need."

I sighed sensing I was about to get into another argument.

"Victor, I can't spend all your money!"

"Yes you can. I've been waiting for you to come along so I can spend it on someone. You will take it and get as much as you need." He gave me his authoritative look. I decided not to argue, this time.

"Ok, ok!" I squeaked, ducking out from under his arm and scurrying off down the corridor with the makeup bag.


	11. Chapter 10

**Authors Note : Hi guys! Thanks so much for all the reviews so far, I love hearing what you think of my story and it encourages me to update more often, so please please review!**

* * *

10 minutes later I emerged and headed down to the kitchen. It was buzzing with people - Trace and Diamond were sat at the table, Victor at the breakfast bar. Karla was by the cooker trying to fend off Xavier from stealing the food she'd saved for me, and I could see the others in the lounge

"Ahh Soraya, good. Xavier disappear now!" Karla said flapping her hands at him.

Xavier looked round at me in mock hate. Sighing heavily and admitting defeat, Xav sidled past me into the lounge grumbling to himself.

"Sorry, Xav." I mocked as he walked past. He turned and threw me a grin as he left, sensing a partner in crime developing. I could give as good as I got on my day, Xav had better be ready.

I sat down next to Victor at the breakfast bar as Karla deposited a huge stack of pancakes in front of me.

"Erm, I'll never be able to eat all these!" I gasped.

"I'll eat em' for ya!" shouted Xav from the other room.

"Yes I bet he will." Muttered Karla. "Don't worry about it sweetheart. Eat as much as you want. They won't be wasted in a house with 8 men to choose from."

I dug in, after months of stale bread and military rations, they were divine. I truly wanted to eat them all, they were so good. But I was beat after less than half. As I put my fork down, Victor looked up from some papers he'd be studying.

"May I?" He asked gesturing to my abandoned fork.

"Go ahead."

I leaned back against the chair as Victor picked at my pancakes. He was multitasking like a pro, eating and scribbling notes on his papers at the same time. I studied his profile as he worked, familiarising myself with every contour of his face, the slight curve of his nose, his strong capable hands. He really was gorgeous.

"Stop it…"

His voice startled me.

"Stop what?" I asked all innocently.

"I know what you're doing. I can see it in your head. And it's distracting me."

I let out a little giggle, he didn't sound overly annoyed. More amused. But I had to let him get on with his work. Trace and Diamond were still sat at the table, heads bent low together pouring over some magazine. Both had looked up to observe our little interaction.

"Ready to head off soon Soraya?" Diamond asked quietly.

"Yeh sure. I need to find some shoes first though!"

"Oh what size? One of us must be the same!"

"Umm, size 6?" I said hopefully.

"Perfect, same as me!" Diamond replied happily. "Some boots ok? I didn't bring many pairs of shoes from Denver…"

"Yeh, no, that's perfect thanks!"

"Great, I'll go grab them and chase Crystal up too, and we'll head off." She said as she got up from her seat, taking the magazine with her.

Victor slid off his seat and produced his wallet form his back pocket, pulling his card from it.

"Here," he said offering me it. "Get anything you need. Break the bank, I don't care." He finished with a wink.

"Thanks, but I won't. You know that." I slipped it into the pocket of my jeans. Purse and handbag were first on my list. "I was a professional bargain hunter when it came to shopping actually!" I said absently.

"Really? Well I'm expecting a lot of things for my money then!" He replied playfully, earning a giggle from me.

Crystal came in then, carrying a brown and khaki coloured scarf. She placed in around my neck and tied it off with a flourish. Always the fashionista.

"There. Much better." She declared.

"Haha, thanks Crystal. I need all the help I can get, fashion was never my strong point!" I admitted.

"Well you are shopping with the right person today honey, I am at your personal service and will provide for your every whim….well, not quite every whim!"

"What about my every whim little sister?" Asked Diamond coming back into the room, a pair of brown boots in hand.

"You've had your chance, besides, I know you've only invited me so I'll end up buying you something highly fashionable, that you claim not to like. I know how you work, let the poor student fork out for the sake of her sisters fashion!"

Diamond gave me a cheeky grin as she handed me the boots and a pair of socks.

"Rumbled! Anyway, let's get this show on the road!"

I pulled the boots on as Diamond kissed Trace good bye, and Crystal shouted to Xav. I turned to Victor who pulled me to him with a hand on my shoulder. He pressed a kiss to my forehead with his other hand cradling my cheek.

"Bye, gorgeous. Have fun."

"Bye Vic." I pulled away as the three of us headed out the door to more calls of farewell. Piling into Trace's SUV, we all waved as Diamond pulled away from the house.

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	12. Chapter 11

Hours later, and burdened down with an excessive number of bags, Diamond, Crystal and I finally left the shopping centre in Aspen and retreated to the car.

"Blimey, the boys are going to have a heart attack when they see all this!" Diamond said as we tried to shove the bags in the car boot.

"Yeh no kidding! Mainly Vick though, since Soraya bought most of the shopping centre!" Crystal said with a smirk.

"Hey I did not! It was all…." I trailed off as I realised they were messing with me.

A mischievous look on her face, Diamond wrapped her arm around my shoulders as we walked back to the front of the car, and Crystal finally succeeded in slamming the boot shut.

"Don't worry about it Soraya, Vick'll be chuffed you actually spent his money. Besides, he's FBI. I bet he earns a bomb!"

To be fair, I had spent a lot of Victor's hard earned money. But nothing I had bought was unnecessary. Well, maybe the burgundy dress, belt and brown boots, but Crystal had put the outfit together and I felt it would've been insulting not to buy it! I was also about to argue I didn't care about Victor's money, but Diamond was already back in the car. As I went to get in too, I felt the tingle of telepathy in the back of my head. Pausing with my fingers on the door handle, I dipped into Diamond and Crystal's minds, finding it wasn't them. Glancing quickly around, I couldn't spot any immediate culprits. I was about to dig further when Crystal entered my own mind.

" _You thinking of getting in the car anytime soon Soraya, or just planning on walking back to Wrickenridge?"_

Her telepathy interrupted my search, confusing the signals I was hunting. Frustration washed over me, along with an inexplicable feeling of fear.

" _Yeh, sorry."_ I replied as I jumped in abandoning my search.

"You ok?" Diamond asked looking over to me.

"Yes fine, just tired." I tried to reply nonchalantly. As we drove off, I couldn't help scanning the car park for the reason behind my unfathomable feeling of angst. I came up empty.

Returning to Wrickenridge, our arrival at the house was immediately noticed. Saul, Trace, Xav and Zed were outside, not far from the house on one of the ski runs and appeared to be doing some work on a ski lift. As we attempted to wrestle all our purchases from the boot, help arrived in the form of Victor, Sky and Phee.

"Hey gorgeous." Victor breathed in my ear as he bent around me to grab at some bags.

"Hey yourself!" I said turning so I was facing him and in rush of courage, stretched up and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I see you put my card to good use," he said happily, eyeing the bags with a raised eyebrow.

Turning back around guiltily, I mumbled an apology.

"Yeh, um sorry about that. I er, I just realised I needed quite a few things."

"Hey don't sweat it. It's fine!"

He fished the last bag out of the boot and started to follow me back around the car to head inside. As we walked, there were several shouts from the guys on the ski run. Suddenly, a loud bang of metal protesting rang out from the lift, echoing around the surrounding mountains and bouncing back to us in waves. The bang sounded exactly like a gunshot.

A wave of terror instantly ran through me, and I was immediately transported back to Afghanistan. The shouts, the gunfire, the fear, it all came rushing back, and before I knew it I was curled on the floor by the car, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around my head. My entire body was wracked with uncontrollable shakes, and I was whimpering like a child. The shopping bags I was carrying were abandoned where they fell, their contents strewn across the ground.

Victor was immediately at my side, kneeling on the ground and wrapping his arms around me as another bang resonated out.

" _Zed, stop Dad NOW!_ " Victor's command rang out for everyone to hear.

From the ski lift, I could hear Zed shouting at his father.

"Whoa, whoa Dad stop now!"

The banging ceased immediately, but the damage was done. I was a wreck, a shivering, crying wreck. Victor was shushing me, rubbing his hand up and down my arm, stroking my hair. I barely registered his words as I cowered on the floor. The approach of more people coming to us made me skitter back even more, right into the chest of Victor. He tightened his arms around me and tried to calm me.

"Ssshh, ssh baby. It's ok, I'm here, you're safe. Ssshh."

His words were having no impact. My breaths were becoming more erratic, and I felt Victor looking round at his family helplessly. He was at a loss. Arriving at a run from the ski lift, Xav quietly approached, saying nothing. He gently took my hand, and I sensed his gift working. He slipped into doctor mode, speaking softly but firmly.

"Soraya? Soraya, I need you to listen to me ok? You need to calm down, big deep breaths. C'mon, do it with me. In….. And out. Good and again. In….. And out. Keep going. Vick, talk to her."

As I continued breathing with Xav, I felt Victor slip into my mind.

" _Soraya you're ok, you're safe. You're not there. Remember I told you I'd always be there? This is me keeping that promise baby. I'm here, I'm here…"_

With Xav's gift helping and Victor's encouragement, slowly, my heart rate began to reduce and I was able to get my breathing more under control. Bringing my hands from my head, I gripped at Victor's arm as he steadied me, still whispering in my head. My body was exhausted and ached all over from shaking, my eyes puffy from the steady stream of tears running from them. Once calmed down, I slipped out of my nightmare as quickly as I'd entered it. Of course I wasn't in Afghanistan, I was here, with Victor. I was safe. Looking up, I discovered very few people still watching us. Xav was still knelt by me, a short distance away. Crystal was helping Diamond and Phee collect the bags both Victor and I had abandoned, whilst throwing me concerned looks. Saul and Zed were also close, looking on guiltily.

" _Vic, I'm so sor…"_

"Don't you even dare Soraya!" Authoritative Victor was back, refusing to let me finish. Clearing his throat, Saul spoke up.

"I feel it's us who should be apologising Soraya honey. I'm sorry, I didn't even think. We were just doing some work, I never meant…." He trailed off, rubbing his hand over his head. The poor guy felt terrible.

"No, no!" I sniffled. "It wasn't your fault, you didn't know! God, I didn't even know I would react like that! I feel so…." What did I feel? Stupid? Like I over reacted? But deep down I knew I hadn't. I had even myself convinced I was ok, that I wasn't scarred by the past few months events. But I was. Forget how I came across on the outside, inside I was a mess.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Thanks for all the reviews! Please tell me what you think of this latest chapter!**

* * *

The incident outside changed everything. I was less confident in myself, and found I was doubting every little thought and move. It wasn't helped by the Benedicts walking on eggshells around me, although they tried to hide it - some better than others. Any little sound was apologised for, from a cupboard slamming to a sneeze. Even Xav had dialled it down around me, I was guessing from his first hand experience of my breakdown. I'd done some digging into his gift after he had helped me, and it was intriguing. He was a healer, I knew that. But when he healed, he literally felt a bit of what his patient was feeling. He had experienced my accelerated heartbeat and breathing with me, and had known he was needed to step in.

But I knew when Xav was being, normal, that they were worried about me. I confirmed this one night, unintentionally.

Coming down the stairs to fill up my glass before bed one night, I was about to walk into the kitchen when voices stopped me. Not the voices themselves, but the mention of my name. Pausing by the wall where I couldn't be seen, I held my breath. Did I want to hear this? I wasn't keen on eavesdropping, especially if they caught me. But it concerned me, so why not. Listening carefully, I didn't make a sound.

"… Kinda worried bout Soraya. Since you-know-what, I mean, you didn't feel it man. I know she's your soulfinder and all, but honestly, I thought she'd lost it bro."

"Xav's right Vic, I've never seen emotions as strong as hers were then. Her fear... god I could almost taste it." Great. Even Sky was in on this conversation. I guessed Zed was there too in that case. The sound of a chair being pushed back made me shrink back further against the wall.

"I know, I know. I honestly thought she was ok, I mean I was surprised she was dealing that easily, but she hid it so well. Yesterday was just…" Victor seemed lost for words, I could just picture him running his hands through his hair the way he did when stressed.

"Vick I'm not sure even she knew how messed up she actually is. There was nothing in her head, she did seem fine. Don't beat yourself up dude." Zed supplied. Bloody guy had been reading me all this time. But he was right, I hadn't realised.

"She is not messed up Zed!" Spat Victor. "She's just been through a lot is all!"

"Well I know, that's what I meant. It's understandable."

"We've helped people through worse Vick, we can help her. We have the tools, and you have me, healer extraordinaire! Not everyone gets these services for free y'know!"

"I know Xav but it's not that simple I fear. If she could bury it all that deep so even she was in denial then god knows what she's actually going through…."

 _She_ had had more than enough of being talked about. Coming out of the shadows I burst into the room with more vigour than I intended.

"I know you all think I'm a ticking time bomb, but what am I gonna do? Have another breakdown, lose it again? Yeh, probably. But all of you gossiping behind my back isn't going to help, and calling me messed up certainly isn't!" I turned tail and fled the room before anyone could say a word. Fleeing to to Victor's room, I turned the light off as I entered and stumbled to the bed. I dove under the covers and waited for the incoming excuses and apologies that would surely come. Not that I intended actually paying any attention to them.

" _Soraya? Soraya I'm really sorry. We didn't know you were listening."_ Sure enough, Sky's gentle voice floated apologetically into my head. It was hard, but I ignored it.

" _Soraya? Ok, I understand. You're angry. Just know I'm sorry."_ Damn did that girl make it difficult to be angry. She was too lovely, too sweet. Everybody loves Sky. I thought ignoring her as bad, but ignoring the knock on the door that followed was ten times worse. Without my reply, he opened it anyway.

"Soraya? Please talk to me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear that."

 _Course you didn't I thought to myself,_ still refusing to even move.

"Look, I know how it came across." I felt the bed dip as Victor sat down on the end of it. He had switched to his more authoritative tone instead of the usual soft, gentle one reserved only for me, like he was working. "We made you sound like a mental case, which you're not. And I know we shouldn't have been talking about you behind your back. I was just worried, and I wanted my family's guidance on how best to deal with the situation."

That got my attention. Sitting up in a blur, I hit the bedside lamp to turn it on. Blinking slightly at the bright light, I launched into my attack.

"Your family's guidance on the situation?!" I spat. "What am I Victor, just another of your cases? A cast out, broken down nut-job of a savant who needs 'fixing'? Well you know what, you can go and find yourself another person to fix. This one, will do just fine on her own!" I flung myself back down on the mattress and pulled the quilt up tight around me.

"Soraya don't say that. You know you're much more to me than just a case! Much more." With a sigh, I saw him run his hand through his hair. "Please, I don't know what I can do? Tell me what you need, Soraya, please!"

"You can stop trying to fix me!" I said sitting back up. "Yes, I'm damaged goods, yes, I'm a mess. But in time, I'll heal. You can't force it Victor! I just need…. I need time and I need you to be my soulfinder, and not an FBI agent for once. I just need you to be Vick."

With a sigh, Victor moved up the bed and pulled me into his arms where I went quite willingly by this point. One arm went around my back while the other hand pulled my head gently against his chest. Arguing with your soulfinder hurt real bad.

" _Yeh, it sure does. I'm sorry Soraya, I'm so sorry. I'll be whatever you need me to be, I promise."_ His telepathic message hit me right in the depths of my heart.

I stayed quiet, playing with one of the buttons on his shirt. His words meant more to me than I let on.

" _Tomorrow, we're spending some time together just me and you. Whatever you want to do, no work for me, no nothing."_ Victor said.

" _Vick I want to fit into your life, not change it. I would like that tomorrow yes, but we'll sort something out, something more permanent. We'll make it work."_

" _I can deal with that."_ Victor said happily. Nuzzling my hair, he went to pull away.

"We'd better get some sleep now baby, we've a fun filled day ahead tomorrow!"

I plucked up my courage and asked him the one thing that would cement the renewed fervour of our relationship.

"Vick." I began, eyes down nervously, my long lashes batting again my cheeks. "Would you stay with me tonight, I mean sleep with me, in the bed?"

He seemed to deliberate for a second, before heading to his dresser.

"Screw it. Mom's not gonna even know. She'll be asleep now anyway. Of course I'll stay." He said as he pulled a t-shirt out. Pulling his shirt over his head, I caught a glimpse of a tight chest and highly defined abs, before he pulled the new top on. Blushing slightly, I bit my lip as he undid his belt and pulled his jeans off. As he slid into the bed next to me, he reached over and flicked the lamp off, before pulling me to his chest, his strong arms encasing me in a safe cocoon.


	14. Chapter 13

I woke the next morning in my happy place. I was lying partially on my side, as comfortable as I'd ever been. Mainly due to the Victor shaped pillow sleeping softly on his back beneath me, I concluded. I had one arm thrown across his chest, the other curled up between us with my head nestled in his armpit. He had an arm around my shoulders, supporting my head and our legs were a mess of tangled limbs. I could feel the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and oddly comforting motion. I didn't want to move ever. Our argument the night before seemed a million miles away now. Through the drawn curtains, I could see a sliver of light shining in. It looked like a nice day. Maybe I should step into the Benedict's world for a day I pondered. What harm would it do to take a hike, or try some outdoor pursuits with Victor. I would suggest it to him.

I must have dozed back off to sleep again, as I was awakened later by my pillow moving. Or rather stretching. Rolling back I opened my eyes to Victor with his arms pulled tight above his head, stretching in a satisfying way.

"Morning gorgeous," he said playfully, leaning down to kiss the end of my nose. "How are you feeling?"

I pulled the covers shyly up to hide my face, so only my eyes and the top of my head were peeking out.

"Good." I squeaked, my voice muffled.

Victor laughed, but was having none of my hiding. Sliding down so he was on his side facing me, he tugged the cover from my face.

"Now why would you want to hide that beautiful face, hmm?" He murmured, his lips barely 2 inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face, even and steady. I didn't speak, my eyes flicking nervously from his to his lips, his oh so kissable lips. He slid a hand under the covers, and I felt it wind around my waist. My vest top had ridden up in the night, so his hand settled exactly where my midriff was exposed, two fingers and a thumb on the fabric, two on my bare skin. My body gave an involuntary shiver as he flexed his fingers and pulled me to him, meeting my lips with his as he did. This boy was an expert, I was literally putty in his hands as my lips melded with his. It was a kiss with enough spark to start a fire. We'd had pecks before, but this was out first proper kiss, coming after our first proper argument. As he deepened the kiss, I felt his hand travel from my waist, over my exposed skin and down to my thigh just about the knee. He pulled my leg up, hooking it around his waist as my hand wound into his loose, silky hair, the other pushed against his muscular chest. I could feel his muscles bunching and stretching as we moved, displaying his incredible physique. He groaned deeply as he rolled onto his back, pulling me with him so I was straddling him. He kissed me for a few more seconds, before sitting up sharply, causing me to pull up too and break the kiss. We sat there breathless for a while, my arms wound around his neck, his hands resting on my hips as I still straddled him. He pulled his knees up so I could lean back against his bent legs, and lay back down as I stayed sitting. My heart was still pounding, my eyes dancing nervously about as I bit my lip. Victor couldn't keep his eyes off me.

"So," he began nonchalantly with his arms now laced behind his head, biceps pulled tight. "What did you fancy doing today?"

"Umm, well I was thinking."

"Hmm?"

"Well maybe, I thought we could try some outdoor pursuits, like hiking or, white water rafting did you mention?"

"You really want to do those things?" He asked in a surprised tone.

"Well yeh, I'd like to try them! They're an important part of your family, I want to prove I'm not just some city girl!"

"Well sure, I can ask Dad if he'll take us out rafting this morning, see if some of the others want to come cos we'll need a crew! Then in the afternoon, how about you and I head up in to the mountains, have romantic picnic just us? I know a few spots."

It sounded perfect. I nodded, cheesing like a fool.

"C'mon then mountain girl. Let's go rally the troops!" He said sitting up and placing a quick kiss on my lips, patting my bum as I climbed off him.

"I'm gonna get dressed first, I'll come down in a minute!"

"Ok baby." He replied pulling on some jeans and heading out the door.

 **I'd love to know what you think of the story, please leave a review!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Authors Note: Ok so some of you have asked for longer chapters so I'm happy to oblige! The next ones will be slightly longer than my usual ones, but I'll try and still update as often as I can! Again, thanks for reading and please leave me a review!**

* * *

I entered the kitchen to Saul's voice.

"… What a great idea. We could all go out, it'll be good fun, some bonding! It'll also be a good distraction for Soraya, good for her to get out of the house."

"Uhuh. I'm not stepping foot near that raft agin! I'm still traumatised from last time!" Said Sky dramatically as I came around the corner.

"Have I made a mistake here? Should I be worried for my life?" I asked playfully as I came into the kitchen. I grabbed an apple from the bowl and lent on the breakfast bar next to a seated Xav to eat it.

"No, definitely not! Rafting is awesome, Sky just had a little mishap when she went." Zed told me with a grin.

"A mishap that wouldn't have happened if someone hadn't tried to be a hero and floored me!" Sky could be ferocious when she wanted to be.

"Oh, oh I remember that day!" Xav spluttered next to me. "Big bad Zeddy got his ass handed to him by little Miss Bright over here. Put him in foul mood for days y'know, thank god you came round, it's all happy families now!" His grin was from ear to ear as he lent his head on his elbow. This boy was incorrigible! He just never let up! Leaning in close to me, Xav dropped his voice and stared at me with a wicked grin. "Talking of happy families, you and Vick obviously made up, you have fun this morning?"

I stared at him dumbfounded, before my cheeks flushed red. Oh god! He had been watching us this morning during our make out session! I was mortified.

" _Xavier stay out of our heads!_ " Came Victor's angry retort. He was throwing daggers at Xav from where he stood by the table. Victor did not seem one to want to make his relationship details public knowledge, he was far more private and understated than the likes of Xav.

" _Whoa, sorry big bro. I can't help it if you two were a little too preoccupied to shield! You were kinda broadcasting…_ "

" _Don't be a pervert Xavier."_ Warned Victor.

I clasped my hand to my flushed cheeks in horror. I wasn't used to living in a house full of savants. It was unnerving. Xav was still chortling away to himself when Saul cleared his throat.

"Everything alright Soraya?"

Looking up quickly I sat up straight, composing myself. "Yes, yes just excited about today!" I tried to say cheerfully hoping my cheeks weren't still a shade of tomato. "Or maybe that should be nervous, if Sky's experience is anything to go by?" I said with a grin.

"Sky was an exception, I promise. People rarely fall in! I suppose we'd better find out else who wants to come out this morning? Xav, you good?"

"Yeh sure! I'll help you man the raft Pops." Course he was going to take any advantage to wind me up, I'd make sure to be seated no where near him.

"I'm there obviously, someone has to protect Soraya from this hooligan." Vick said with a glare at Xav.

"If there's a raft going out I'm game!" A sleepy Will called as he wandered into the kitchen wearing only his boxers. These Benedicts were far too full of themselves.

"I'd rather not." Sky said through gritted teeth. "Maybe the kayaking though?"

"Yeh, I'll take Sky out kayaking instead!" Zed said as he placed a kiss on the top of Sky's head. She looked pleased.

"Great, we need 2 more." Saul declared.

" _Hey Phee and I are keen!"_ Yves jumped in. " _Still room for us?"_

 _"Yes, perfect. We've got enough now. Let's get this show on the road kids!_ "

"Emm, what do I wear?" I asked hoping it wasn't too much of a stupid question.

"Anything. Or nothing. Sure Vick'd appreciate that. Doesn't matter anyway, we'll give you a wetsuit." Xav replied. I stalked out of the room before he could go any further.

* * *

40 minutes later, we were all piling out of the cars at Wrickenridge Outdoor Centre. We headed into the building, which had been closed in honour of mine and Vick's return apparently, where our boys started measuring up Sky, Phee and I for wetsuits. Xav, Will and Saul disappeared with their own suits, before me and the girls retreated to the other changing room. Wriggling into the wetsuit, I realised it was not in the least bit flattering.

"Hey do me up would you? I'll get yours after." Phee asked turning around. I zipped her up, and turned so she could do the same. Pulling on the old pumps I'd borrowed, we left the changing rooms.

The boys were outside, manoeuvring a huge raft out of a garage and down the river with a lot of shouting and grunting. There was a lot of muscle on show there, with Xav, Zed and Will stripped to the waists in their wetsuits and the others muscle's bulging against the stretchy material. The three of us girls couldn't help throwing smirking glances at each other as the spectacle came to an end. We were the luckiest girls alive. Jogging over, Zed called us inside.

"Come on in here, we'll grab you some BAs."

"BA?" I questioned.

"Buoyancy Aids. Can't be doing with you drowning if you go in!" Zed threw over his shoulder with a grin. "I'm kiddin, nobody's going in, breathe Soraya! Y'know I'm amazed you got Vick to go for this Soraya, he's not usually one for all this! Would much rather spend his days pouring over his latest case than actually having fun." He said as he slipped a BA over my head.

"Leave off him Zed!" Sky jumped in. "He's dedicated is all. Nothing wrong with that!"

"Who's dedicated? Should my ears be burning?" Victor said coming in the door. He came and took over from Zed pulling all the straps and tightening up my BA. "Can't have you slipping out now can we?" He murmured before grabbing his own to put on.

"Ok, safety briefing!" Saul announced coming in the door, and clapping his hands together. He was rocking a wetsuit, black board shorts and a BA. "Listening carefully girls."

10 minutes later I was seated in the raft next to Victor clutching onto my paddle like a lifeline, waiting for the boys to push us off. Yves and Phee were in front of us, with the other boys behind, Xav and Will and Saul at the back captaining.

"Right boys! Push her off, you know the drill!" Saul called from the back of the boat.

The paddles were used to push us away from the bank, away from security. Xav gave a loud whoop as we drifted into the middle of the river and the boat bucked as the current took us! We began paddling like Saul had demonstrated and suddenly we were flying down the river, bouncing and riding the waves, paddling like crazy to keep moving. All fear and trepidation left me and was replaced with adrenaline as we flew down the river, twisting and turning as the boys at the back tried to keep us on the right course.

I was disappointed when we reached the end of the run not long after and we steered the raft into the bank, where Zed had driven the trailer down to load the raft onto. He had Sky had already completed the kayak run and were waiting to help pull us out of the current.

"So, how was it? Looked like some good currents!" Zed asked eagerly.

"Yeh it was good, Cauldron was frisky, it was awesome!" Will offered.

"How'd you find it?" Sky asked me as you gave me a hand out of the boat.

"It was amazing! I want to do it all again!" I replied breathlessly.

"Better than my first experience then?" She said with a laugh, as we moved out of the way for the boys to haul the dripping raft onto the trailer. After much effort, the raft was on and Xav and Will clambered onto the trailer to secure the straps, as Vick came to see me.

"Brilliant isn't it?" He said with a glint in his eye. "Ready for round two? We can head back and get changed, then hit the shops for some food?"

"Yeh, sounds great!" I said as Victor held open the car door and I hopped in to drive back up to the centre.


	16. Chapter 15

This was the perfect place for me to reflect on the past crazy week. We'd hiked for hours, but finally we'd reached our destination and I realised it was worth it. Lying on my back with my head in Victor's lap as he lent against a tree, and our bellies full from the picnic, the blue sky seemed to stretch on for miles, interrupted only by the occasional mountain peak. We were pretty high up, on a grassy ridge with a rainbow blanket of different wild flowers covering the ground and pine trees lining the edges. I felt like my breakdown the other day was a distant memory, and I don't quite know how it happened. But I wasn't being complacent, I knew it could happen again and probably would do.

Lying there, I realised I had practically experienced a six month relationship in the space of a week. From meeting, to our first kiss, discussing moving in, how our lives would fit together, our first argument, and then our steamy make out session this morning. I ran the events over in my head several times from the moment I set eyes on Victor to now, marvelling at the power of the soulfinder bond. Thinking back, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Vick? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he replied, rousing from his doze. "What is it?"

"In Afghanistan, when you came for me. You were telling me your plans to bring me back here, and I refused, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. Hard not to."

"What'd you mean?"

"Well I was so focused on getting you out, I didn't really think about you saying no. I was confused when you questioned me, and kinda became desperate."

"I guessed as much. You used your gift on me, didn't you?"

"Yes." He admitted softly. "But like I said, I was desperate. Desperate people do desperate things Soraya. I can't exercise much control when it's not done telepathically, it's like residual power left over that takes effect. I didn't quite realise what I'd done until it was too late."

"Yeh me neither. Bet I was like a dewy eyed little puppy after your trick huh."

"Dewy eyed, yes, puppy no. You're too feisty!"

"Hilarious, but for the record Vick, try it again on me and you'll regret it."

"Soraya I would never intentionally use my gift on you. And I promise you I won't ever again. I wouldn't take your free will like that, you're too important to me just how you are. I didn't want to tell you that you were my soulfinder in the middle of that country with all those people. It didn't seem right, but if you were going to refuse to come with me still, I was thinking about resorting to it."

"Well I'm glad you didn't, but I probably pushed you in to telling me sooner than you planned though?"

"In all honesty, I'm glad you did. I wasn't sure when I was going to tell you, I was hoping the right time would just appear - I didn't plan on you making the right time appear!" Victor said with a laugh.

"Well. Maybe I just wanted you to get on with it?"

"Oh no, you can't pull that one with me! You had no idea I was your soulfinder!"

"Did too."

Sitting up quickly and forcing me up, Victor grabbed my hips, pulling me in close.

"No, you didn't. And if you don't admit it, you'll regret it."

Giggling, I stared him down. His eyes moved down to my lips, and he began to lean in. Teasing him, I lent away, earning a raised eyebrow from Victor. Instead of pulling back, he leant me further back until I was flat on the floor. Grinning with success, Victor went in for the kiss, just as I felt myself slipping down the hill.

"Whoaa….!"

Victor wrapped his arms around me as we tumbled all the way to the bottom, landing in a mess of bodies. Victor made sure he took the brunt of the fall, so I ended up landing on top of him. Laughing, I leant in and kissed him, giving in.

* * *

Arriving back at the house just after 5, Victor and I were immediately summoned into the kitchen by Diamond, who was sporting a towel wrapped around her wet hair and a dressing gown. The whole house was buzzing, with girls running around half dressed with curlers in or half done make up - Xav was even shaving in the kitchen sink, much to Karla's annoyance. All the bathrooms were occupied apparently. Diamond came to us, practically shouting over Karla's complaints.

"Ahh good, you're back. Did you have a good afternoon?" Diamond asked as we went hand in hand through the door. She continued without waiting for our reply. "Trace and I need to go back to Denver tomorrow for work, Will and Uriel have to go back to college too but we thought we could all go out for dinner tonight. We've booked a table for 7 at a restaurant in Aspen, be ready to leave here by 6, ok?"

"Yes Diamond. We'll be ready!" Supplied Victor, looking at me and rolling his eyes. "C'mon Soraya, we'd better get ready or we'll be dead!" He said leading me out the door, desperate to escape. "Let's see if we can find a shower." He said with a grimace.

I managed to sneak in the bathroom when Crystal finished her make up, much to the annoyance of Zed who had wanted to shave. Taking a quick shower, I called Victor through telepathically so he could sneak in the bathroom. As I was brushing my wet hair out in the steamed up mirror, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Hey it's Victor."

I unlocked the door, to find him wearing only a towel around his waist. Winking, he slipped past me and turned the shower on, which I took as my cue to hastily leave the bathroom.

I was sat straightening my hair after having dried it and done my make up when he returned to our room, hair dripping wet. I couldn't help snatching glances in the mirror at his impressive physique and bare chest. I watched as he pulled on a pair of black boxers, before dropping his towel. From his wardrobe he drew a pair of smart black trousers, black tie and suit jacket, and a white shirt. It was very Vick, plain, but smart and professional. I decided to dress to match him, picking out a straight black lace dress that finished just below the knee. I was just pondering how to get out of my towel into my underwear with Victor in the room, when he finished straightening his tie and headed over to his laptop.

"Don't worry, I won't look." He assured me. "I just need to send a quick email, then we'll head down?"

"Ok," I replied as I quickly slipped my underwear on. Wriggling into my dress, I realised I needed a hand to zip it up.

"Emm, Vick? Could you, zip me up please?" I asked shyly, clutching the front of the dress to my body.

"Sure." He said turning around and coming to me. I turned my back to as I pulled my long hair around my neck out of his way. I felt him push a stray strand of hair over my shoulder, before tugging the zip up in one sweep.

"You have beautiful hair." He murmured as he did. "Its so thick and soft." He gently played with a bit as he spoke. I gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeh, thick and annoying. It takes a lot of taming!" I joked as I turned around to face Victor again.

"You look lovely, Soraya." He breathed as he bent down to place a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Thanks. You look pretty handsome yourself."

Laughing, he pulled away to put his shoes on.

"Well we'll just have to be one good looking couple together then hey?"

I went to the wardrobe and got my own shoes out – a pair of black wedge heels. They were a Crystal inspired purchase, apparently every girl should own a pair of black heels – they'll pretty much go with any outfit. Even with my shoes on, I wasn't was tall as Victor, but we were more even heights at least.

"Shall we?" He said, offering me his arm. Smiling, I took it and we went downstairs together.

* * *

Our party took up most of the dining room in the restaurant we were in, several tables had been pushed together to accommodate all 15 of us. The conversation was in full flow, with Xav holding the attention of at least half the table, while the rest of us made our own conversations in smaller groups. We were getting exceptional service, mainly due to the 7 exceptionally good looking men seated at our table, unwittingly using their looks to their advantage. After all our orders had been placed, Trace stood up clearing his throat.

"So Diamond and I asked you all here tonight so we could make an announcement." He said, offering his hand to Diamond to join him. Standing up, Trace wrapped his arm around her shoulders with a loving look. "We wanted to tell everyone, all together, that Diamond and I are having a baby!"

The shriek from Karla was the loudest, above all the cheers and shouts of congratulations. Karla jumped up and pulled both Trace and Diamond into a hug, somehow overcoming the size difference between the three of them.

"Oh I'm so pleased!" She trilled. "I was wondering when it was going to happen! And now I'm going to be a Grandma! Saul, Saul we're going to be grandparents! Isn't it amazing?"

"Yes, it's very good news." Saul said gently, coming over and pulling his eldest son into a hug. "Congratulations son. I'm so happy for you." He murmured in Trace's ear, as both looked close to tears.

By the time Trace and Diamond had been passed around the whole table to receive congratulations, the starters were beginning to arrive. We all settled back into our seats to dig in to our food.

"So, how far along are you Diamond?" Tarryn asked as we ate.

"Nearly 5 months now, we just wanted to be absolutely sure everything was ok before we told anyone. I'm amazed none of you have noticed, I'm showing quite a bit!"

"Oh we noticed Di, we all just thought you were, y'know, puttin' a bit on round the middle!" Xavier called with a snicker.

"Xavier Benedict!" Karla shouted, with a look like thunder.

A sheepish looking Xav was also delivered with a whack from his soulfinder on the shoulder.

"That's my sister you jerk, watch it!" She snapped, half serious half jokily.

"Ha ha. Very funny Xav thanks, but yes I am getting quite big." Diamond said patting her tummy gently. "I'll be the size of a balloon soon, so unattractive!"

"Don't worry sweetheart, you'll still be as beautiful as ever!" Said Trace lovingly, planting a kiss on Diamonds temple, earning a glowing smile from her. "And we'll have to start saving up for all the things we need, Di has expensive taste!"

"Well looking through all those magazines, oh the things were just gorgeous! I can't wait to start buying them!" Of course. The magazine the two were pouring over the other day in the kitchen. It was a baby magazine, it made sense to me now. "And just think though honey, once we've bought them we won't have to the next time around, we can reuse them!" Diamond exclaimed placing her hands on Trace's shoulder in excitement, to which he obliged her with a suitably excited smile.

"Oh yes, just wait, when I was pregnant with Trace, my first pregnancy…." I zoned out as Karla launched into stories about each of her pregnancies. Babies. I couldn't help thinking how I was supposed to have children with Victor one day, but it felt far too soon in our relationship to be thinking of that. As if reading my thoughts, Victor moved his hand across and covered mine where it lay on the table with a slight squeeze, smiling reassuringly at me. I checked my shields, but they were up and strong, there was no way he had read my mind. We were all good.

Dinner continued with the whole family in an extremely upbeat mood, with everyone relaxed and happy, including me. I was really beginning to feel like I belonged, like I had a family finally.


	17. Chapter 16

We said our goodbyes to Trace, Diamond, Uriel, Tarryn and Will in the morning as they all left for Denver, leaving Vick and I with the younger Benedict brothers and their girls, but not before I had a session with Uriel and Tarryn. After my breakdown, they were concerned about my state, especially as I wasn't showing any signs of my experience actually effecting me until it was too late – anything could set me off. Uriel, with his gift to delve into the past, backed up by his soulfinder Tarryn, took me into the family room, with Victor close on my shoulder. They called it memory manipulation, or basically they worked on altering my memory's of Afghanistan and allowing me to associate them with something good, which usually turned out to be Victor related. They didn't go into the gunshot territory yet, it was only our first session and that seemed to be the worst trigger. But they would keep working, turning my bad memories into good in the hope that when they surfaced, I would be able to control my actions better. I'd also had a session with Xav, privately. He advised me on how to keep my heart rate lower, and also to control my breathing and see past my fear if it did happen again. I was also to practise breathing techniques he'd found – he had done some research with his tutors help at college, and was buzzing for someone to try them out on. This one-to-one session gave me a whole new insight to the guy. To anyone who knew him, he was the joker, jumping on anything and everything he could to gain the most laughs. But to those who really knew him, he was sweet, gentle and hugely dedicated to making people better and helping. Crystal was lucky to have him.

Wandering into the the kitchen after saying our goodbyes, I found Victor hard at work on his laptop, making up for the lost time yesterday. I leant against his broad back with my chin on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist as he tapped away.

"Mmm. How are you feeling baby? Alright?" He murmured as he worked.

"Yeh I'm fine. Don't you worry about me."

"Well it's my job to worry. Especially when my girlfriend has a breakdown."

I don't even bring him up on him calling me a mental case. He had called me his girlfriend.

"Your girlfriend? Are you jumping to conclusions Mr Benedict? I don't believe I've had a say in this matter." I decided to go the jokey route with this one. Spinning around in his chair causing me to pull up, he looked up at me.

"Maybe I am jumping to conclusions, but don't you want to be my girlfriend? Make it official?"

I was buzzing with happiness, I could feel it like a hum running through my body.

"Well yes, I suppose so!"

"Well then." He finished before turning back to his work. Moving around the breakfast bar I sat down opposite and grabbed an apple to pick at, still cheesing at being asked to be his girlfriend, or rather told.

"So I was thinking." I began.

"Mmm?"

"Don't you need to be going back to Denver, for work and such? You can't hang out here forever!"

Looking up and eyeing me carefully, he went back to his work before answering.

"Well I will at some point, it's not as desperate for me. I can work on cases here." He said gesturing to his laptop. "But yes, I need to go back soon." I could tell he was monitoring my responses, seeing where I was going with this. "You coming with me?"

"Well yes. That's what I was going to talk about. Going back to your apartment in Denver, if you want me there of course."

"Baby I've been waiting for my soulfinder to live with me for years. Of course I want you there." Victor said without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Well then. When do we leave?" At this he looked up, I could tell I had his full attention for now.

"So eager to get me on your own are we Miss Abdali?" He said with a thoughtful gaze, running his thumb along his lips. "We can leave tomorrow, if you like." He said returning to his work. "Or the day after. It's up to you."

"Tomorrow works."

"Yeh? I'll let my boss know in that case, I'll have to be in the office a lot of the time, but I don't want you being lonely. You sure about this?"

"Yes, I want to fit into your life, I'll have to get used to it. I can look into working for the Net over here again anyway, it really was the best part of my life."

"Until I came along, right?" Victor joked.

"Oh yeh. In your dreams Benedict!" I laughed as I slid off the chair and headed upstairs to start packing.

* * *

We had our last dinner together in the Benedict house kitchen with Karla and all us girls cooking up a delightful meal. It was a happy affair, despite most the family leaving shortly – Vick and I were heading back to Denver, Xav and Crystal were going back to New York where they were both at college, and Yves and Phee were back to California, to college as well. Only Zed and Sky would be left, although Sky still lived with her adoptive parents at home, 10 minutes away. Both of them were heading off to college after the summer as Sky had been accepted into the prestigious Juilliard, and Zed was studying mechanical engineering at Colombia University to be close to her, so they would be joining Xav and Crystal in New York. Soon, Karla and Saul would be in an empty house for most of the year – a vast contrast to the 7 boys they had raised in it. Despite this, Karla was on top form being an amazing hostess and the conversation was flowing. It was the perfect family scenario.

The next morning, Victor and I were waved off just after 11am by the whole crew – Saul and Karla, Xav, Crystal, Yves, Phee, Zed and Sky. The drive to Denver was just as beautiful as I remember the first time, with conversation flowing between Victor and me. We spent the journey getting to know each other, all the little things long term couples already knew about each other and their families. Victor lived for his job, and got on surprisingly well with the partner the FBI had given him, now one of his closest friends. His birthday was seven days after mine, unfortunately making me the older one in this relationship. He despised pets, so a dog in the future was off the cards, and hated spicy foods, mainly curry, but is a fan of Chinese. Victor was the third oldest brother to Trace and Uriel, although he didn't seem like the younger of the three, and although he'd never admit it to him Xav was surprisingly his favourite brother. Sky was the favourite of the other soulfinders, unsurprisingly! His mother and father both had six siblings, with Karla's being all sisters and Saul having a mix of brothers and sister . While Saul's family were all very understated and calm to be around, all together Karla's were uncontrollable and terrifying. Due to having six aunts and uncles on either side, most of whom had soulfinders, Victor had a lot of cousins, some of which he was closer to than others. On his dad's side, there were 23, and on his mums 17 equalling 40 cousins in total, plus some of their soulfinders. For that reason, it was impossible to have all the family in one place, although most expected invites to the Benedict weddings and were offended if they didn't receive one.

"Name them!" I said playfully to Victor.

"What, name who?" He replied throwing a puzzled look across to me.

"Your cousins. Name all forty of them!"

"Ha. Not a chance. I'll tell you my favourites, but don't expect me to reel the rest off!"

"Ok. Hit me."

"Right. On my mums side – Hattie, Matilda, Iris, Patrick, Siobhan, Cleary, those last three my aunt married an Irish soulfinder.." He explained. "Then on dads there's more, but they're also more like my family personality wise see. There's Cayden, Clyde, Cameron, Cody, spot the pattern? Meg, Emilie, Nate, Tilly…. there's a lot!" He finished with a knowing laugh.

"Wow…" I breathed absently. "I don't know what it's like to have a big family." I said gazing out of the window at the countryside flashing past. "It's only ever been me and my parents, and they haven't spoken to me for years now." I could feel him glancing concernedly at me.

"What happened with your parents? If you don't mind talking about it?" He asked softly.

I thought carefully about my reply before answering.

"Well what it really boiled down to was my want to join the Net. Obviously they've never stood against the Net, but they're not its biggest fan either!" I said with a nervous laugh. "I'd never been close close with them before, if you know what I mean. I loved them, still do, but we never saw eye to eye. Sometimes I wondered if I was actually their daughter! But after I joined the Net that was it. They spouted some crazy rubbish about me being exposed, not being able to protect me if I joined. It was nonsense, so I joined and never looked back."

"Hmm. Well I'm glad you did, tracking you down in Afghanistan would've been a lot harder if you weren't associated with the Net. What were your parents names?"

"Hassan and Amira Abdali."

At my words Victor's gaze turned dark, his eyes seemingly boring holes into the tarmac infront of the car. His voice had lost its soft touch when he next spoke, although he tried to hide it.

"Do you know what happened to them after they left you? Where they went, what they do?"

"No, I don't…Victor what is it? What's wrong?" I asked, worried about his sudden mood change.

"Nothing, it's nothing." He replied shuffling uncomfortably and glancing in the rear view mirror. "Don't worry about it!" He said throwing a smile in my direction, and shaking off his demeanour. "You do realise my family is now your family, you'll have to get used to a big crowd!" He said cheerfully, changing the subject and lightening the mood with one sentence.

"Oh gosh. How will I ever cope?" I replied in mock terror.

"Just you wait baby. Our wedding when it comes will be a mess of excited, loving cousins who got invited, and weeks of us making excuses and apologising to the angry ones who didn't!" He laughed as we pulled off the interstate and began negotiating the busy city traffic.

"Wedding huh? And just when were you planning this Mr Benedict?"

"Well. Not for a while. I thought we could maybe move in together first?" He said gesturing to a high rise block on our left. As I gazed up at it, secretly hoping he lived at the very top, he turned into the underground car park beneath it and pulled into a spot signed 'BENEDICT'. Private parking. Pretty neat. As I hopped out of his car, he was already pulling the bags from the boot, and set off towards a lift. Jogging to catch up, we waited for the lift to arrive.

"How many floors up do you live?" I asked watching the lift numbers drop down from 20.

"19, one down from the top. I'm not rich enough to afford the penthouse, so it's the next best!" He replied with a laugh. I couldn't help hide my smile. It would be so cool up there! "Does that appeal to you Miss Abdali?"

I nodded, smiling and biting my lip in excitement as the lift pinged and the doors opened. Stepping in, Victor punched in an access code with a practised hand and pushed our level as the lift doors slid shut.


	18. Chapter 17

Victor's flat was just how I imagined it – mainly white, black and grey, with a fairly modern feel. It was very tidy and organised, but with little things which made it feel lived in, little Victor things. Like the keys he had just thrown on the table in the entrance with his FBI badge, the hair bobbles to control his long hair dotted around, and the half drunken mug of coffee left on the side in the kitchen long ago. It was very Victor. But it was the view that really got me. Gasping, I ran over to the floor to ceiling windows covering a whole wall in the lounge and pressed my hands against the glass. Most of the city stretched out infront of me, with only the taller buildings obscuring the view. In the distance, the mountains lay behind the city still dusted with snow on the peaks. It was breathtaking.

"Want a tour?" Victor asked from the doorway, loving my reactions to his home. I turned around, nodding my head enthusiastically.

"Well, this is the lounge, kitchen and diner are just through that arch." He said with a gesture to my right.

He took my hand and led me through the rest of the apartment, which was deceptively large. There were two bedrooms, the master ensuite and a main bathroom for the flat as well. There was also an office full of papers and files and work. We were just concluding our tour when Victor's phone beeped with a message.

"Aargh, baby I'm sorry. Would you hate me if I headed to work for a couple of hours? They've just got a new case in, they want my opinion." He groaned as he read the message. Ignoring the wave of disappointment I felt wash over me, I replied.

"Of course not. Works important. Go, I'll just unpack and stuff." I had the rest of my life with this man. One afternoon alone wasn't going to kill me.

"Are you sure? I can tell them I'm not back in the city yet, help you settle in?"

"No, honestly I'll be fine! Take as long as you need, I'll make something for dinner if you want, for when you come back?"

Pulling me in for a hug he kissed the top of my hair.

"Baby I don't deserve you. But that'd be perfect. Thank you." Pulling away he grabbed his car keys and badge as he opened the front door. "Keep hold of my keys in case you want to go out, I'll get one cut for you soon, and the lift code is on the back of that door. Ring on the house phone if you need me, I'll answer it. Bye gorgeous." He said as he pulled the door shut behind him.

Heading back in to the apartment, I located my suitcase where Victor had left it just outside the lounge door. Dragging it into the master bedroom, I set about unpacking all the things I'd bought on our shopping trip the other day. I had to move some of Victor's clothes around to make enough room, hoping he wouldn't mind. 45 minutes later and all unpacked, I set about familiarising myself with the apartment. The kitchen was an open plan dining room too, and was big, with a breakfast bar. It was well equipped and modern, and looked like a chefs dream. Looking at this apartment made me think of my flat back home. I'd missed rent for nearly four months now, and I had to sort out a lot of other affairs at home. I decided to ring the Net and sort out my transfer to the U.S. to work here. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was just after 1pm, meaning it was about 7pm in England. I hadn't yet got a mobile out here, so I grabbed the house phone and called Victor. He answered after the first ring.

"Hey, everything ok?"

I decided to keep it short, he sounded rushed.

"Yeh, sorry to disturb you. I was just wondering if you could give me a number for the Net in England? I want to ring and sort things out, you know."

"Yeh, give me ten minutes, I'll ring you back with it, ok?"

"Perfect. Thanks." I replied and hung up the phone. I headed into his office to grab a pen and piece of paper so I'd be ready for when Victor rang me back. I noticed his tablet sitting on the desk, and grabbed it find my landlords number. I could tell I would have a battle on my hands with the rent situation. As I was copying down his number the phone rang with Victor's number flashing up.

"I've got that number, you got a pen handy?" He said as soon as I answered the phone.

"Yep, go ahead." I said balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder as I picked up the pen, and scribbled the number down.

"You need anything else?" I could tell he was walking as he spoke, obviously busy. "I'm just going into the interview room, I won't be out for a good hour at least."

"No I'm good. Thanks for that. I'll see you later."

"Ok baby. Can't wait to see you. Bye." My Victor was back in that one sentence. The Victor who used his reserved for my ears only soft voice and called me baby.

As I had the phone to hand, I punched the Net's number straight into the phone and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello? Laurie Gray speaking."

"Laurie, hi it's Soraya!"

"Oh my gosh, Soraya! I heard you'd been rescued, how are you?"

Laurie was a Gray, the family who basically ran the Net in England. I was good friends with her, as I was with most of the Grays.

"I'm good now thanks. Brilliant actually."

"Yeh? Are you in the U.S. now? I heard… well I'll let you tell me!"

"Yes, I'm in Denver actually."

"Denver huh? That wouldn't be anything to do with the famous Benedicts would it?"

"Actually yes. Victor Benedict is the one who organised my rescue. He's my soulfinder." I added with a little smile on my face. Telling people I had found my soulfinder would never grow old.

"Oh Soraya I'm so happy for you! Look how well this has turned out, I know it was a horrible experience you'd rather not have been through, but I can't believe it! Isn't having a soulfinder amazing, and you've got a Benedict at that!" Laurie's soulfinder was an Appleby, another big savant family so she knew what I was experiencing.

"It kind of is amazing, yes. I'm actually moving in with Victor here, in Denver. I'm sorting out everything back home for the move, I was wondering if I'll be able to transfer to work for the Net over here?"

"Oh right, yes of course you are. I'm sure we can sort it out for you, I know there's a Net base in Denver. I can get all the paperwork done, but I'll need you to sign some of the papers. Will you be coming back to London at all?"

"Yeh, I will at some point. I'll need to clear out my flat, bring my things over so definitely. That'd be great if you could take care that for me though."

"Of course. I'll get straight on it, I'm sure you'll want to start your new life as soon as you can. I'll keep in touch, can I get you on this number?"

"Yeh, it's Victor's home phone, but I'll let you know when I get a mobile. Thanks for this Laurie."

"It's no problem, least we can do. We'll be sad to lose you over here though!"

"Well, that's debatable!" I said with a laugh.

"Anyway. I'm sorry, Soraya, for not coming for you sooner. We tried but, it was complicated. See there was…" I cut her off.

"Honestly Laurie, it's fine. You don't have to make excuses. I know what a Hail Mary op it would've been. I don't hold anything against you or the others. It's all worked out, hasn't it?"

"I suppose, if you're ok that's all that matters. I'll be in touch ok Soraya, talk to you soon."

"Yep, bye Laurie. Thanks." I pressed end on the call, hoping I wasn't costing Victor an arm and a leg with international calls. It had crossed my mind to phone my parents, but I decided against it – they probably didn't even know what had happened to me.

I threw the phone down onto the desk and picked the tablet back up. My next mission was to locate the nearest supermarket to buy something for dinner. I had no idea what shops were best or cheapest in America, I'd just have to google it.

I settled on Walmart, a 10 minute walk down the road. Pulling a light jacket on, I grabbed Victor's keys and my bag and headed to the lift. I got out in the main foyer of the block which was manned by an attendant at a desk, instead of the car garage. As I walked towards the front door, a voice startled me.

"New here Ma'am?"

I looked up to see a slightly balding, middle aged man behind the desk looking at me.

"Oh, yes. I'm staying with Victor, Victor Benedict. I don't know if you know him?" I replied, trying to convey I wasn't a burglar.

"Oh of course, I know Mr Benedict. Will you be staying long ma'am?"

"Yes, actually I'm moving in. I'm his girlfriend see." It was the first time I had referred to myself as his girlfriend to anyone. It sent a pleasant tingle down my spine.

"Ah. Very good ma'am. I make it my business to know every face here you see. One of the residents might thank me for it one day."

"Of course, I understand. I will be about quite a bit, don't worry about me!" I said cheerfully.

"Very good ma'am." He said again. "You can call me Hugh, or Hughie."

"Soraya." I said, going over and briefly shaking his hand. "Well I must get going, need to get something for dinner." I said to fill the silence. "It was nice to meet you, Hugh."

"Likewise ma'am, you have a good day now."

I left the foyer with a wave to my new friend and set off down the street.


	19. Chapter 18

I spent much longer than I planned in the shop, Walmart was a new experience for me – it was huge! Over an hour later though, I had collected the ingredients for chicken carbonara and the essentials like milk and butter, as Victor had been away from his flat for a good time now. I trudged back to the apartment ladened down with my purchases.

I set about putting away all the shopping, not knowing where things were kept so just guessing for now. I cleared out all the food from the fridge which had gone off too, replacing it with the fresh stuff I had bought. With that job done, picked up the phone once again and took a deep breath as I prepared myself for the fight.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mr Trevalyn? It's Soraya Abdali here, I rent the flat on Downy Road from you?"

"Ah yes. About time you got in contact. Are you aware you've missed 3, nearly 4 months rent for me now?"

"Yes, I am aware that's why I'm calling. I'm sorry, I've been out of the country for, er, work, for a few months. I am very sorry. I will pay the months I've missed of course."

"It is unacceptable Miss Abdali, I will require that money in full, immediately. I need to earn a living and when my tenants miss 3 months of rent I am severely put out! How would you like to pay the balance, card cash or cheque?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to pay it in full right now Mr Trevalyn, I'm not in the country and I don't have that sort of money anyway. I'm going to be moving out of the flat as soon as I can, but I will the pay monthly instalments until I've caught up."

"Well that's not good enough, I need that money now." He was cut off by a knock at the door, probably Victor. As I went to answer it, I replied.

"Look, I'm really sorry, I can't pay that much in one go!" I pulled the door open to find Victor about to greet me, until he noticed me on the phone. Nodding in understanding and stepping in after me, I turned my back on him and went back into the kitchen as I spoke again. "I understand you need the money but it was a challenging 3 months for me, I've never missed payments before. I'll pay the instalments monthly, and I'll give you the fourth one too?"

"No, I can't accept that Miss Abdali. I need you to understand..."

"I do understand, I need you to understand and cut me some slack!" I was about to spill my whole sorry story, and hope he didn't think I was pulling a fast one and actually believed me, before the phone was whipped out of my hand from behind. I spun round.

Victor, of course. He was already in full flow, Mr authoritative.

"This is Victor Benedict, I'm Soraya's boyfriend. She will be moving in with me, and so not requiring to rent your flat anymore. I will pay any over due rent in full and the next months on top, would you like a cheque or my card details?" So efficient and straight to the point, I'm sure my landlord couldn't argue even if he wanted to.

"No, Victor, you can't…." I tried to grab the phone off him, but he simply turned around and fended me off with one hand.

"Card? Of course, hang on one moment while I get it out." Victor carried on.

Giving up free my feeble attempt and sulking like a child, I went through and slumped down on the sofa with my arms crossed waiting for him to finish the call. I couldn't hear the whole conversation, just bits as Victor gave his card details and smoothed things over. He came through to the lounge just as he finished up.

"We'll be in contact when we've cleared to flat to return the keys. Such a pleasure doing business with you Mr Trevalyn. Goodbye." I could hear the sarcasm dripping in his voice with his last sentence, and couldn't help letting a little smirk break my sulky façade. Victor turned to look at me mirroring my smirk.

"Victor. You shouldn't have done that. That was thousands of pounds you just paid, do you have any idea how expensive rent is in London? I could have beat him down eventually."

"Trust me, I can afford it. I have savings for purposes just like these. At least that's dealt with, one less thing to worry about. We do need to think about getting you a mobile though, it'll be much easier for you. I've told the office I won't be going in tomorrow, I need to help you get sorted so we can do that tomorrow, among other things." That cheered me up.

"You didn't need to do that, but thanks." I said with a small smile.

"You're welcome. Did you get all your stuff sorted?"

"Yes, I had to move some of your stuff about to fit my clothes in, I hope you don't mind? And I wasn't sure where you keep everything in the kitchen so I just shoved the shopping anywhere!"

"That's ok, what shopping did you get? I meant to say we need milk and things, I'll have to throw the stuff in the fridge out."

"I got all that, and cleared the fridge out." I giggled at the impressed look he threw me. "Well I had to do something while you were out earning the money!"

"Well I'm impressed, I could get used to this!" He replied happily as headed back into the kitchen.

"Well don't, I spoke to the Net. They're sorting my transfer so I can work for them over here." I shouted through to him.

"Oh really? That's good, I work closely with the Net here in Denver. Managing relations, keeping the secret, damage control y'know. We'll be working together!" I could hear him going through the fridge and the cupboards. "Do want a cup of coffee?" He called.

"No I'm good thanks!" I shouted as I gazed out across the skyline. Victor came back in and settled down on the sofa next to me, steaming cup of coffee in his hand. He stretched one arm around my shoulders and pulled me in to lean on his chest.

"How was work?" I asked with my voice muffled.

"Fine. I got a lot out of the interviewee, I also got a load of stick when I rang you. I've never had a serious girl before, all the guys were grilling me about you. They want to meet you, actually. There's an event coming up soon, they call it a ball but really it's just a charity event for the law enforcement agencies in Denver. Trace and Diamond will be there, probably Uri and Tarryn too. It would be the perfect opportunity for you to meet everyone. "

"They want to meet me?" I squeaked with a hand on my chest, ignoring his comment about the charity ball for now. I could feel rather than hear Victor's chuckle.

"Yes you. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well I guess not. They're probably surprised the feared Victor Benedict actually has a girlfriend. I mean, he's not exactly Mr sociable, it's all work work work with him, most people are terrified of him... ahhhh! Stop it, stop, I'll shut up!" I cried as Victor began tickling me to silence me. I squirmed and squealed as his relentless fingers kept wiggling until I was pinned on my back with Victor hovering on top of me, his cup of coffee abandoned on the end table beside the sofa.

"You've got me all wrong baby. I'm all heart really, I just needed the right person to bring it out in me!"

"And I suppose that would be my job?" I breathed, unable to move with Victor's body pinning me down.

"Absolutely. I'm gonna be a changed man soon enough." He whispered.

In act of undiluted confidence on my part, I wrapped my hand in his silky hair and pulled his head down to meet mine, pushing my lips against his. He didn't resist, instead he moved one of his hands to squeeze my waist gently, while he supported the majority of his body weight on the other. His lips parted as I relaxed into the sofa and I pushed my tongue past his teeth to meet his. I felt his hips drop and a slight pressure as he lowered down slightly, allowing me to feel more of his body weight. Victor was everywhere, all I could see, all I could smell, all I could feel. It was the first kiss I had initiated, and I liked it. A lot.

* * *

"Oh crap crap crap!" I swung around the island in the kitchen dropping the knife I was cutting veg with and grabbed the pan off the cooker as it bubbled over ferociously. I turned the hob down and replaced the pan after it had calmed down.

" _Are you sure everything's alright in there?"_ Victor asked for the third time. He was working in his office, while I was having a little trouble getting to grips with his state of the art kitchen. He had come running through the first time, when I had nearly dropped the knife I cutting chicken up with on my foot. My heart had skipped a beat, alerting Victor to my near miss.

" _Yeh, yes. It's fine. I'm just having a little trouble with your fancy pants kitchen."_ I felt him laugh through our connection.

" _Honestly, I can come and help you? I don't mind."_

 _"Nope. You stay right there. Everything is under control…"_ I said as I juggled the pans with the pasta and the sauce, managing not to drop either just.

" _Ok. Well give me a shout if you need anything baby."_

 _"Yep. Yep I will do…"_

As he faded out, I turned my attention to the rest of the meal. Thank god my hair was so straight and smooth naturally otherwise it would have been a frizzy mess with all the steam circulating the kitchen.

Finally, what seemed like hours after I had started, dinner was ready. I had miraculously managed not to burn anything either. After I had put the plates on the table with the grated cheese in a small bowl in the middle, I padded through to Victor's office, and peeked around the doorway. He looked up immediately, offering me a smile.

"Dinners on the table." I said quietly.

"Great. I'm starving." He said getting up and following me through to the kitchen. "I don't smell any burning either, it's a miracle!" He teased.

"I can cook you know! It's your kitchens fault."

"Hey. Don't hate the kitchen." We bantered as I sat down at the table. Victor went to the fridge producing a bottle of white wine. "A glass?" He asked me reaching into the cupboard.

"Mmm, yes please!"

He brought the bottle and two glasses to the table and poured me one, before getting one himself. He lifted his glass towards me.

"To… Our first night of many together." He said tilting his glass. I met it with my own, smiling, and took a sip of the beautiful crisp wine.

I surprised myself even with how good the food was, we ate it all and more. After dinner, we settled down on the sofa - Victor sat upright with me stretched out on the rest of the couch with my head on a cushion in his lap. We watched some crappy film on the TV without really paying much attention, I was more interested with Victor's hand in my hair gently playing with strands of it.

By the end of the film my eyes were rolling, my yawn and stretch after the film signalled Victor to pat the cushion next to my head.

"Bed time? We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"Hmm, yeh I think so." I said stifling another yawn.

"You can go use the bathroom and get ready, I'll just put the dishwasher on and I'll be through. You want a glass of water?"

"Yes please." I called as I left.

I used the bathroom quickly, and was just changing as Victor walked into the room carrying two glasses of water. He looked up at me as I stood there in just my pyjama shorts and bra looking like a startled rabbit. He dropped his eyes as he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to barge in."

"It's ok," I said as I slipped my tank top on quickly and went to him. "Is that for me?" I asked gesturing to the glass. He nodded, and I took it placing a kiss on his cheek as I did. "Thank you."

He seemed to snap out of his shell shocked state as I kissed him, and headed off into bathroom smiling to himself. I hopped into the bed, the bed which was now our bed. Mine and Victor's.

As he came out of the bathroom Victor slipped his shirt and tie off followed by his trousers. He climbed into the bed next to me wearing just his boxers. I was about to settle down to go to sleep when he put a hand on my waist. I turned over so I was lying on my side facing him, and he pulled me towards him slightly, and looked me straight in the eye.

"Soraya, I want you know I like having you here. I want you here, living with me." He began, his voice soft and kind. "You know I love my work, I live for it, and I know I get very absorbed in it. But I need you to understand, I've never had anything else to live for apart from my family. But now I have you, and I want to treat you like a princess, I want to spend every second of everyday with you, but I want to do my job as well. What I'm trying to say is even if it seems like I don't want to talk or spend time with you because I'm busy with work or something, I really do, I just don't realise how I'm coming across. I need you to tell me, if I'm too caught up in work and not giving you the attention you want, the attention you deserve, tell me please."

He spoke with such earnest it nearly brought me to tears. His words meant a lot to me, I knew how much he loved his work, so for him to say this to me was huge. I didn't know what to say to properly convey my feelings, or if I could even speak without crying, so I simply slid into his chest, burying my face in his smooth skin and wrapping my arms tight around him. He seemed to understand, as he returned my embrace, his face hidden in my hair. I felt him reach across and turn the lamp off, and we both drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.


	20. Chapter 19

Victor and were just finishing a late breakfast together when a knock at the door interrupted us. We both glanced towards the door wondering who it could be, as Victor put down his glass of orange juice and got up to answer it.

"Diamond, hi." I heard Victor say, giving her a kiss on the cheek too.

"Oh hi, Vick! I heard you guys and moved back to Denver, I thought I'd drop by and see Soraya. I didn't know you'd be here though, don't you have work?"

I heard Diamond's gushing voice from the hall as Victor greeted her. I got up to go and see her too.

"Diamond!" I said as a breezed into the hall. Diamond was dressed impeccably, as usually.

"Hiya Soraya! How are you?" I leant forward to give her a hug in welcome.

"I'm good thanks, Trace at work?"

"Yes, yes he is. I came to see if you wanted some company, I presumed Mr workaholic over here would be working too." She joked, gesturing to Victor who grimaced in reply.

"He's not just about the job you know, he took the day off so we could sort out some things. He's all heart really!" I said stealing his line from yesterday, giving him a cheeky grin as I did.

"Too right baby!" He murmured, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to pull me close. Diamond was observing our interaction with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"You two are just too cute!" She gushed as Victor hide his smile by burying his face in my hair. "Anyway, I was going to see if you wanted to help me with a few things for the baby, Trace has given me the go ahead to pick out a pram!" She said pressing a hand over her mouth in excitement. "But if you and Vick have plans, don't worry!"

"I don't mind, we could join you and get what we need to do done as well, what do you think Soraya?" Victor suggested.

"Yeh, I would love to help you Di. We could have lunch too maybe?" I suggested.

"Oh yes! That would be great!" Diamond said. "I'd appreciate the company!"

"Ok, settled. I guess we should get ready then, Soraya?" Victor said glancing down at me. I nodded as I headed off for a quick shower. "Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait Di? We shouldn't be to long."

"Oh yes thank you. I can get it, don't worry!" I heard them head off down the hall to the kitchen. I headed to the main bathroom to shower, since all Victor's toiletries were already in his ensuite shower. I grabbed my wash bag and jumped quickly in the shower, not bothering to wash my hair. I was done in minutes and headed back to the bedroom to change. Victor was still in the shower, so I got dressed and applied a little make up in record time. I went through the to kitchen to keep Diamond company. Naturally, our conversation turned to our men. We were busy laughing about their protectiveness when Victor finally walked in.

"Ready to go ladies?" He asked as he collected his car keys and wallet from the side.

"Yes, let's!" Diamond said jumping up.

"I was thinking we could get everything done this morning for you Soraya, get some lunch then I might head back and you two can do the baby stuff, if that's alright? I need to work on getting you a temporary passport Soraya, so we can go back to England and sort everything out. We'll get your new passport sorted soon too, and I'll have to have some visa applications rushed through."

"Yes, I don't see why not? Some girl time Soraya?" Diamond said.

"Sure! I'm good with that." I replied.

"Ok. I'll take my car too then. D'you wanna ride with Diamond sweetheart?" Victor asked as he held the door open for us to head out of the flat.

"Yes, I don't mind. You sure you're ok on your own?" I replied.

"I think I'll survive ten minutes without you baby." Victor said as we got in the lift. He pulled my face up to meet his to kiss me softly. The lift pinged as we reached the foyer, where Diamond and I got out and Victor continued to the car park below.

"Good morning ma'am." Hugh called from behind the desk.

"Hi Hugh," I called in greeting as Diamond and I breezed past. The cold mountain air hit me when we passed out of the front doors, causing me to draw my jacket closer around me.

"Don't worry," Diamond said noticing my discomfort and linking her arm through mine. "I'm parked just down here, on the street." And off she marched me to her car.

* * *

We spent the morning traipsing round a shopping centre, with Victor insisting on buying me a highly expensive iPhone, along with my own set of keys for the apartment among other things. By the time we had finished, Victor was sufficiently poorer and Diamond was about to collapse from hunger. We headed off to a little Italian in the shopping centre, where Diamond ordered the whole menu practically. After a delightful lunch, I kissed Victor goodbye as he retreated to his car with handfuls of bags from our morning tasks.

"Call me if you need me, on the mobile!" He said with a smile as he walked off away from us.

I waved, before Diamond linked her arm through mine once more as she guided me off toward out first baby shop.

"Thanks for coming with me Soraya, I'm going to need some restraining I fear!" She joked with me.

"Gets me out of the flat, I don't mind at all. And I'll be in Trace's good books if I can control you!" I replied walking into the first of many shops.

Diamond was immediately engaged in a conversation with a sales person, and seemed to be having some in depth chat about prams. Wandering aimlessly around the shop, I was soon jumped on by a similarly eager saleswoman.

"Good afternoon Miss, are you looking for anything in particular? We have a good range for both boys and girls here, do you know what you're having yet?" She asked as she gazed at my stomach with a fake smile. I stared back, coming to terms with her question.

"What? No no no, I'm not pregnant!" I said in horror, flashing a shade of crimson.

"Oh! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I just presumed, please accept my apologies!" She cried as embarrassed as me, as I saw Diamond coming my way.

"I'm just here with a friend!" I pointed in Diamonds direction, before scurrying off to her leaving the blushing saleswoman in my wake.

"Everything alright? I just managed to shake that man off, I hate sales people. I'm glad I can use my gift to reason with them, they get intimidated and scared off. What was that woman saying to you?" She said as I reached her.

"Di, am I fat?"

"What? No, of course not! What makes you say…. Ahh." A glance over my shoulder at the still visibly distressed lady had her trailing off, trying to stifle a laugh. "Did she, she think you were, pregnant?!" She spluttered covering her hand with her mouth.

"It's not funny Di!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It kind of is, because you're not at all fat is the thing! I think she's got it worse to be fair!" She said with a nod behind me.

"Well, can we go to a different shop please? Maybe one where they won't call me fat."

Laughing, Diamond headed for the exit. "Yes, yes of course. They don't have any prams I fancy here anyway, let's head back into town, there's some smaller more exclusive boutiques there."

I willingly followed, leaving the shop without a backward glance.

"Did Vick tell you about the charity ball coming up by the way, for the law enforcement agencies of Denver? Trace and I are going, you won't have to worry about looking fat with me there!" Diamond asked as we walked back to the car.

"Oh, yes he did mention something about it. He didn't specifically ask me to go though, maybe he doesn't want to."

"Don't be silly, he always goes to these things and sits there all night, doesn't dance ever just talks work. I dragged him up at the last one, just to check he can actually dance!"

"Sounds like Vick. I'd love it though, get all dressed up and dance! I hope he asks me!" I said nervously.

"Oh he'll want to go with you, trouble is he'll be so caught up in work he won't ask you until the last minute. You need to be prepared, we'll go dress shopping, Tarryn too. That way you won't be caught out with him leaving it too late!" She made it sound so simple.

"Ok, if you say so! Just tell me when!" I said to keep her happy.

7 shops later, Diamond had finally found 'the' pram, as she called it. It was lovely, with a lovely high price tag to match. We were in a little privately owned shop in the centre of Denver, being cooed over by a lovely shop attendant.

"Well, Trace is going to have to do a lot of overtime, but I think it's worth it, don't you Soraya?" Diamond asked, posing behind the pram as if she were pushing it.

"Definitely." I backed up. "I'm sure Trace'll understand, besides he'll do anything to make you happy!"

The shop lady was giggling away to herself at our exchange, coming forward to retrieve the pram from Diamond.

"I'll get it ready for you to take home then shall I?" She asked amused as she practically had to prise Diamond's hands off the handle.

"Yes, I think so please!" Diamond replied, barely hiding her glee with her hands covering her mouth. She looked at me as the lady pushed the pram away, squealing with excitement.

"It's so exciting, and I just love this shop! Do you mind if we look around some more, I saw some charming clothes in the window!"

"Of course not, baby clothes are so cute anyway!" I replied. I wandered off, running my hands along rows of jackets, dresses and tops. Mainly blues, and pinks for boys and girls. So typical.

"Hey Di." I called over the top of a display. "Do you know what you're having yet, boy or girl?"

Glancing up, she came over to me dropping her voice.

"Well, we haven't told anyone, only Trace and me know so far so keep this quiet, but we're having a boy!"

"Oh, a little Trace!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, he's so excited! I think he just had such a good relationship with his Dad, particularly as the first born, he just wants it for his family too you know."

I nodded in understanding, and turned my attention to the baby boy section. I soon picked out a hand knitted grey jumper with buttons, and colourful pattern around the middle. Not for a newborn, but a few months older. Coming round the corner with her arms full of garments, Diamond cried out.

"Oh my gosh, that is adorable!" She said coming over to get a closer look. "You have good taste Soraya, I might get this it's too cute to resist!" She held it, running her hand over it.

"I'll get it for you." I said quickly, taking it back off her.

"Oh you don't have to Soraya!"

"It's ok, I want to. I picked it out for you!" I headed to the cashier to pay before she could argue.

"Soraya thank you, you really didn't have to! But you'll always have the pleasure of knowing you bought the first present for him, before he's even born!" Diamond called following me to the till.

"I better be the favourite aunt then!" I laughed.

We left the shop 5 minutes later, pram and several bags in hand as we walked down the street to the car. We decided to head for a coffee before heading home to rest our tired bodies. Settling down with our drinks, Diamond struck up a conversation.

"So, how's it going with you and Vick anyway?"

I looked up at her before answering

"Its... Good. Really good." I admitted.

"You two looked so loved up, I was watching you this morning."

"Oh? You were?"

"Hmm. Victor's like a a different person. You have to realise, you've only ever known this Victor.,it's all he's ever been with you. We all knew someone different."

"How was he different?" My worried expression had her backtracking.

"I don't mean this in a bad way, I mean everyone changes when they find their soulfinder, it's natural. Victor never struck me as the romantic type, I couldn't imagine how he would be with his soulfinder, I think everyone was thinking pretty much the same thing. Imagine the shock when cold, steely Victor turns into this loved up puppy who worships at his girls feet. Literally, it sounds exaggerated, but that's effectively the change in him! You can see how much he cares for you, he's so sweet with you. Anyone else gets Mr Ice!"

Hearing her talk about Victor being like that was surprising, I knew he was different with me but I had no idea it was so drastic. But like she'd said, I'd only ever know this Victor.

After draining our coffee cups and feeling suitably replenished, we headed back to the car. Jumping in, Diamond dropped me off quickly at the apartment, thanking me for the company before I waved her off and headed to the lift.


	21. Chapter 20

**Authors Note: Thanks so much for all the reviews, I really appreciate them! I'm just doing some tweaking to the following chapters, so it might be while before I update after this so I apologise in advance! Please do tell me what you think though!**

* * *

Letting myself into the apartment with my newly cut key, I walked past the office where Victor was in deep conversation on the phone. He looked up as I walked past offering me a smile. I waved in return. I threw my keys and phone on the side in the kitchen, and grabbed a glass and filled it with water. I was leaning against the counter drinking it when Victor's voice floated into my head.

" _Hey baby, good afternoon?"_

 _"Mmm, very... babyish_!" I settled on, smiling to myself.

" _No kidding! I've been doing battle with the customs office all afternoon, I've got you a temporary passport to get to London, then you have to have a quick interview at the passport office there and they'll supply you with a new permanent one. It's getting you a visa to move here that's difficult, they've got me on hold at the moment_."

" _Ohh. I hadn't thought about it all really. Am I going to be able to stay?_ "

I felt his spike of alarm as my words registered with him.

" _Of course. Have I told you I can be very persuasive when I want to be?"_

 _"No, can you really?_ " I joked back.

" _Absolutely. Besides, I have a lot of connections and I'm not taking no for an answer. Don't worry baby, I'll sort it. I'll be through in a minute."_

 _"Ok_!"

I set about sorting something light for dinner from the fridge – I was still stuffed from lunch. As I stood chopping salad stuff up, 5 minutes later I felt arms go around my waist from behind as Victor nuzzled my neck. Leaning back into him, I tilted my neck as I carried on chopping tomatoes.

"Any joy then?" I asked him quietly.

He pulled away with a sigh.

"Maybe. Someone's getting back to me." He glanced over to me, noting my worried expression. He came back over, placing one hand on my waist and the other over my hand with the knife, making me drop it. He spun me around to face him, still holding my hips.

"Soraya, I will get you a visa, I promise. Don't worry about it, I will do whatever to takes to keep you here with me. I won't lose you now I've got you. I can't." He told me, kissing the small frown from my forehead. "Trust me baby."

"I do." I said in a small voice.

"Good girl. On the subject, when do you want to go to London? I need a date, I have to put it on the emergency passport. I can take time off whenever, I'll say it's work. I'll also bill the plane fares to them, technically I'm returning you home so it's still the same op."

"You're coming with me? Vick. You don't have to, really. I can manage!"

He looked at me, frowning. "Of course I do. I'm not having you travel to a different country alone. I don't want to lose you again. But it is the charity ball next week, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

"Emm, yes! Diamond was talking about it today actually I'm so excited. Although if you're going with me, be prepared to get up for more than one dance mister!"

"Is that right? Best get practising then, I'm not accustomed to dancing at these things!"

"Oh yeh, Diamond told me! Never too late to change!"

"Very true, new me right? We'll go to it, and we can go to London a few days after?"

"Well we'll see if you can get the time off first. Then we'll decide on a plan of action. I'm quite happy going on my own so we will wait and see, ok?"

Victor was about to argue when his phone rang in his pocket. Pulling it out, he glanced at the caller I.D before answering.

"Will," there was a long pause as he listened.

"You sure? Yes, I know you're never wrong. Ok, I get it. Tarryn? What did she see? Well damn well put her on!

Victor was tense and running his hand through his hair in his stressed manner. I went over as he sat down at the breakfast bar, and leant against his strong back, my fingers working small patterns into his muscles to ease the tension.

"Tarryn tell me. What do you mean you can't? Why not? Damn it… look I've a call waiting. Thanks for telling me. Tell Will too." Hanging up, sounding anything but thankful, he immediately switched to the other call.

"Dad, if you're going to tell me what I think you are, Will already beat you to it. Yes, that. I will. Thanks dad. Bye." He hung up and threw down his mobile sliding it across the worktop, and dropped his head into both his hands.

"Vick?" I murmured, rubbing his shoulders soothingly. He drew his head back up, turning slightly in his chair to face me.

"Sorry, yes that was Will, and Dad. They told me not to let you go to your flat in London on your own. You'll be in danger."

I knew what Will and Saul's gift was, I'd got a pretty good grip on all the Benedicts gifts during my time there. Therefore it made me truly scared that they said I was in danger, and felt the need to ring us about it, even if it was in London. I also knew what Tarryn's gift was.

"And what did… What did Tarryn see? I asked tentatively, trying to sound unfazed.

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me!" Victor said frustratedly.

Tarryn saw a persons fate, meaning my mind was now going wild with endless possibilities of my impending doom.

"That means it's bad?" I whispered.

"Baby don't worry." Victor said framing my face gently with his hands. "You know I won't let anything happen to you, it just shows you shouldn't be going on your own. They only rang because you were considering it, I bet if you accept I'm coming you won't be in danger."

"I'm ok." I said swallowing. "Guess you are coming with me then?" I said trying to lighten the mood.

"Damn straight I am." He said pulling me tight into his arms, making me feel safe.

 **Please leave a review!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Authors Note: Here's the next chapter, just some fluff, but I like a bit of fluff sometimes! I hope you like it!**

* * *

Victor came home from work late the next night - I'd had to leave his dinner in the oven to warm up. He was exhausted, but still managed to be in a good mood with me. We chatted as I kept him company while he ate.

"How would you feel about Xav and Crystal coming to stay for a bit? Just a couple of days." Victor asked me between mouthfuls. "Xav's managed to get a placement in the hospital here, it's such a good experience so he's asked to stay here for a little while. The two are obviously a package deal!" He said with a laugh.

"I don't mind at all, good for Xav!" I chirped. I could see how proud Victor was of his little brother, soon to be on his way to becoming a doctor.

"Yeh? Crystal won't have anything to do, although I suspect Diamond will have her out baby shopping since she's supposedly the more fashionable of the two, but at least you two can keep each other company while I'm at work."

"It'll be different to have some company, it was quiet today." I said quietly. The look on Victors face had me backtracking quickly. "I don't mean I'm lonely! Just that I'm starting to get used to being on my own, it'll be weird!" I could tell my words had no impact, I now had him worried I was too lonely on my own. "Besides as soon as we get back from England I'll be going out to work too, so I won't have to entertain myself here! Don't worry about me!" I finished brightly.

He looked anything but convinced, but nodded as he returned his attention to his dinner.

"So they'll be arriving the day after tomorrow, I'll probably be at work. I said we'd make dinner the first night, so d'you want to grab some stuff at the shops tomorrow?"

"Mmm, sure. I'll have a think!"

"Ok. If its anything like this it'll be delicious!" Victor said grinning and gesturing to his now empty plate.

"Flattery will get you everywhere Mr Benedict!" I laughed as I retrieved his plate to put in the dishwasher.

* * *

Xav and Crystal arrived in the afternoon a couple of days later, with enough bags for a month between the two of them. I pulled open the front door to a rapturous welcome from the two giants stood in the doorway.

"Hey Princess! How's life with your Prince Charming?" Xav asked loudly after he had hugged me, swinging a jacket over one shoulder flamboyantly.

"Like a dream come true." I replied sarcastically as I hugged Crystal.

"Ignore that idiot." She murmured before pulling back to speak at a normal volume. "How are you Soraya? Settled in ok? I've always loved Vick's apartment, I love the view!" She enthused as I grabbed a few bags to help them in with.

"Oh yeh, I love the view too! I was a tad too excited when I first saw it!" I admitted leading them down the hall to the guest room. I'd spent the morning whipping round cleaning up everything, and had put new sheets on the spare bed. "Well done on this placement Xav, I heard it's a big deal?"

"Well, y'know it's no biggie!" He replied nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders, clearly joking.

"Oh get outta here Xav, you've been telling everyone and anyone you can how amazing it is you've got it and how amazing you must therefore be!" Crystal exclaimed nudging him with her shoulder.

"Hmm, ok well maybe it is a big deal. I'm frickin' awesome!" Xav said throwing his arms out and knocking a picture on the wall squint in the process. "Oops…" He threw me a sheepish glance was he proceeded to straighten it, his tongue poking out as he concentrated.. Sighing, I turned around to leave.

"I'm going to start dinner, it'll be a couple of hours so make yourselves at home!" I called over my shoulder, as I heard Crystal gasp in exasperation.

"For goodness sake Xav, move over I'll do it!" I could just imagine Crystal shouldering Xavier out of the way as he unsuccessfully tried to straighten the picture.

I spent the evening slaving away in the kitchen, with Xav and Crystal's constant bickering and mocking entertaining me as they sat at the breakfast bar. The two were hilarious, and when they weren't chatting out loud they were throwing each other lovey dovey looks or laughing at some unspoken comment one of them had made. Victor arrived home just as I was about to ring him, as I was about to plate up dinner. I heard him call a welcome from the hall before he came into the kitchen.

"Well if it isn't my fav big bro! Long time no see!" Xav called jumping up from his chair to greet Victor.

"You saw me last week, Xavier." Victor murmured, but hugged Xav back all the same – I remembered Victor saying Xav was secretly his favourite brother. Victor reached around him to kiss Crystal on the cheek, before coming to me.

"Hi baby," he breathed as he kissed the top of my head, his arm round my waist. He nuzzled my hair for a second before pulling away to lean his long frame against the counter.

"I was about to ring you, I'm just plating up. How was work?" I said as I pulled the plates out of the cupboard and set about serving dinner.

"Same old. Got a case that's going nowhere, but something'll come up sooner or later. Just gotta be patient." He replied grimly.

"That's spirit Vick. Not like you to give up so easily!" Xav chipped in.

"Trust me Xavier, I'm not giving up. I'm gonna get the son of a gun, it's just a matter of time." Victor said as he pulled a glass from the cupboard and preceded to fill it with water. "You two want a drink?"

"A glass of water would be lovely thank you!" Xav said putting on a posh English voice. "Cupcake?"

"Yeh, water will be fine too thanks." Crystal said, rolling her eyes at her soulfinder.

Victor grabbed another two glasses, pausing as he turned slightly to me.

"You want one too baby?"

"Mmm… please." I managed to get out as I juggled pots and trays and jugs of gravy. A few minutes later I had successfully deposited 4 plates of food on the table, with a jug of gravy and 4 glasses of water.

"This looks delicious Soraya, thank you." Crystal praised as we all dug in.

"Yeh, well done baby." Victor said with a proud little smile.

It must have been good, or they were all just starving, either way they wolfed it down and even looked for seconds in Xav's case. He earned a chiding from Crystal for that.

"That was delicious, thanks. Xav and I were thinking we'd like to take you two out for dinner tomorrow, as a little thanks for letting us stay. I know it's not always easy with this bafoon about!" Crystal said with nod towards Xav, who pretended to be offended.

"If you insist, we really don't mind you staying. Well. I don't. Mainly because I won't be here, I'll be at work!" Victor replied joking.

"Ahh so kind of you bro. I'll be out slaving away too, you girls'll have to entertain yourselves. Try not to miss us too much!" Xav said.

"Somehow, I think we'll survive Xav!" I said sarcastically as I got up to collect the plates. Crystal went to get up as I picked hers up.

"Oh let me help with that!" She said flapping about for something to pick up.

"Don't worry, I got it!" I said easily as I quickly swiped the last plate leaving her empty handed and with an annoyed look on her face.

Xav and Crystal went to bed soon after dinner, with Xav up early for his first shift at the hospital, leaving Victor and I with some alone time for the first time that night. We lounged on the sofa watching crappy TV and stuffing our faces with sweets before almost crawling into bed weighed down with chocolate and tiredness.

We were both rudely awakened early the next morning by what sounded like a cat being strangled, coming from our ensuite bathroom. Grumbling, Victor threw back the covers and marched over into the bathroom as I pulled my pillow around my head, willing sleep to claim me once more.

"It'll be a strangled boy it sounds like in a minute!" He growled opening the door to a face full of steam.

"Dude! Showering here!" I heard Xav protest loudly when Victor went in.

"Well shower quieter! What are you even doing in here, there's a perfectly good bathroom down the hall?"

"Well Crystal's in there?" Xav said in a, 'duh' voice.

"Oh I am sorry, I wasn't aware of that bit of information. It's 5 o'clock in the morning Xavier, just shut it or I'll do it for you!" Victor snapped, slamming the door on Xav. Half the block would be woken up by now I thought as Victor slumped back into bed beside me with a groan. I glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing it was only about an hour before he'd be up for work now.

"How many days are they here again?" He asked in a muffled voice. All I could muster in response was a shrug, as I began to drop off again to the sound of Victor's even breaths.

I next woke up when Victor kissed me goodbye, informing me Xav had left to the hospital and Crystal had gone to Diamond and Traces, leaving me free to do what I pleased. I lounged around in bed for a while before getting up to potter around the flat. I mainly worked on our plans for the trip to England as we had finally decided on the dates. I made calls to my landlord to collect a key – I came up with a brilliant but totally unbelievable excuse about how my keys were lost in the woods on a team building weekend in America, since he knew I had been out of the country for work. I even told him they were probably eaten by a grizzly bear by now. None the less, we arranged a time to meet so I could use the spare key for the duration of my visit since technically I had another month in that flat paid for due to Victor's stunt. I paused my preparations for lunch, whipping up a nice light tuna salad as a text came in on my phone from Victor.

* **hey baby, hope you're not too lonely – don't worry, Xav'll be home soon anyway! Just wanted to let you know I'll be late out of work tonight, so I'll just meet you at the restaurant for dinner. Text me when you know where you're going. Vick x ***

I scanned it quickly, before composing a reply.

* **ok, I'll let you know. Counting the minutes till I have Xav's delightful company! S xx ***

I put my phone down to dig into my salad, not expecting a reply.

When Xav returned later that evening, he had Crystal in tow having presumably dropped by Trace's to pick her up. He was still sporting his blue scrubs and had an I.D badge hanging round his neck – he looked very professional. I was treated to an endless rundown of his days work, after which I just managed to squeeze in the point about Victor meeting us at the restaurant. I quickly fired a text off to him with the name and time of our reservation, before getting ready to go out.

We walked to the restaurant they'd booked just down the street, and ordered drinks while waiting for Victor to arrive. We kept sending the eager waitress away, insisting we were waiting for someone else. I put this down to her crushing on the stupidly good looking Xav and wanting to impress him, who eventually got so fed up he had words the next time she came trotting over.

"Look, sweetheart. We said were waiting for someone, so unless you can see an invisible man sitting next to me, he hasn't arrived yet. So why don't you make yourself invisible until he does, ok?" I had to hide my giggle behind my hand, while Crystal was torn between laughing and scolding her brash soulfinder. The waitress mumbled an apology as her cheeks flushed red and she hastily backed away.

"Xav that was… not nice. She's just doing her job." Crystal said trying not to laugh.

"Cupcake, I told her we were waiting! The customer is always right!" Xav protested as he leaned back swinging on his chair and drained the dregs of his glass. "Can I get you ladies another drink while we wait?"

Crystal gave a sigh, giving up with the chastising.

"Well since you're paying, same again!" She said with a wink.

"Hmm, me too please!" I asked as Xav stared Crystal down with a smirk on his face.

"No problem, Soraya." He said getting up to go to the bar. "You can get the next round cupcake!" He called over his shoulder.

We were halfway through our second drinks when an apologetic Victor arrived looking tired after a long days work. The waitress trotted back over to take our orders, somewhat subdued and not looking Xav in the eye. I offered to get a drink for Victor since he had only just got there and was looking particularly tired tonight. I placed my hand on his thigh, and lent in close as I returned to the table with his drink.

"Everything ok?" I murmured as Xav and Crystal engaged in a tiff about their dinner choices. Victor lifted his eyes to meet mine, our heads bent close together and smiled in encouragement.

"Yeh course. Just a tough day at work. Don't worry about me." He said quietly, pressing a kiss against my forehead. He pulled back and put a comforting arm around the back of my chair as we waited for our food.

After dinner, we walked back slowly to the apartment hand in hand with our respective partners, and all headed to bed pretty much as soon as we got back in.

Xav and Crystal left for home the evening after, with Xav buzzing about his experience at the hospital. Crystal and I had met up with Diamond and Tarryn to shop for dresses for the charity ball during the day, while we had Crystal there for her fashion expertise. She helped us pick out amazing dresses, and was incredibly jealous she wasn't joining us. That didn't stop her modelling some stunning dresses for the hell of it.

To say I was sad to see them go wasn't entirely accurate, but it had been an entertaining few days and it would definitely be different without them in the flat. They were fine in small doses, but much longer and their unrelenting bantering and childlike enthusiasm would have begun to get on my nerves. As Victor was still at work, I waved the two off back to Wrickenridge with the promise of a phone call when they made it back safely.

 **Thanks for reading, please leave a review!**


	23. Chapter 22

I twisted round in the mirror, observing all angles of myself in the beautiful dress Crystal, Diamond and Tarryn had helped pick out the week before. My dress was deep red satin, with thin spaghetti straps and a straight shape, which suited my figure. Again, the black heels which were fast becoming my favourites donned my feet to match the small black clutch I'd borrowed from Diamond. I'd curled my usually poker straight hair and left it loose and natural looking around my shoulders. Slipping the small diamond studs Victor had given to me into my ears, my outfit was finally complete. I tottered through to the kitchen where Victor had been waiting for me for the last half an hour.

"Hey," I said softly to draw his attention.

Turning around, he looked me slowly up and down several times before blowing out a breath. He was extremely handsome with his hair pulled back and sporting a black tux with a dark red pocket square to match my dress.

"Soraya, wow…" He said, drawing out the 'w' for effect.

I glanced down shyly.

"Do I look ok? I wasn't sure what sort of thing to wear, but Diamond said this was suitable?" I burbled.

"Baby you look perfect." He replied coming to me. "I can't believe I'll have you on my arm tonight, the guys'll be so jealous." He said smugly as he stroked my cheek gently.

"Ready for some dancing Mr Benedict?" I purred drawing the unwanted attention off me. Laughing, he drew away to pick up his phone and car keys.

"Absolutely. Do your worst Miss Abdali!" He said taking my hand and leading me out of the apartment.

* * *

Victor drove us to a large country hotel just outside Denver, where there was a line of cars waiting for valets to park them. As we reached the front, my door was opened by a young man who offered me his hand.

"Ma'am."

I took it and slid as gracefully as I could manage out of the car thanking the man, to where Victor met me round the other side. Offering me his arm, I slid mine through his to walk up the stairs to the impressive entrance. A lot of people outside greeted Victor as we passed by them.

"D'you know everyone?!" I muttered as we walked.

Laughing, Victor replied inclining his head slightly towards me as he did.

"No, not everyone. Mainly just the FBI guys."

"They're all probably gobsmacked you have a date!" I said with a smirk.

"Probably are!" He agreed, just before we were greeted by a man at the door and welcomed inside.

The hotel lobby was a huge circular double story height room with pillars adorned with spirals of fairy lights and a huge chandelier hanging from the glass dome roof. People were milling around everywhere, either chatting in groups or waiting to go into the reception room. I looked around for Diamond or Tarryn and their respective partners, and came up empty. I knew nobody.

"Vick please don't leave me!" I whispered clutching at his arm with my other hand now too. He looked down alarmingly at me.

"Why am I leaving you?"

"To go off and talk work with your work friends! I don't want to be left on my own! " I hissed back. He threw his head back laughing, and patted my hand with his.

"Don't worry baby, I won't leave you. How could I when you look so gorgeous tonight?" He reassured me with a wink. "Besides Di and Tarryn will be here somewhere, you won't be alone ever."

I was about to reply when a man came through the crowd smiling at us.

"Vick, buddy! Don't you look dapper!" The guy called as he clapped Victor on the shoulder.

"Tom. Good to see you man." Victor released my arm to return the half hug.

"This must be your lovely lady eh?" He lent across to take my hand, bending down to kiss the back of it. "Pleasure to meet you finally!" He purred.

"Soraya this is Tom, my partner. Tom, Soraya, my girlfriend." Victor introduced as he slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close.

"Nice to meet you Tom. I've heard all about you from Vick." I said, placing my hand on Victor's torso as I spoke.

"Y'know, I gotta admit it's kinda weird seeing old Vicky here with a girl on his arm! And a stunner like you at that! Then again, Vick's a handsome old devil so I suppose he needed someone to match eh? Better be careful Vick, keep hold or I might steal her from ya!"

"I don't think I need to worry about losing her, Tom." Victor said with a knowing smile in my direction.

"You never know mate, I'll be waiting in the wings just incase!" Tom joked with a wink.

" _Only he's not joking_." Victor said in my head.

" _Don't worry, you have nothing to worry about, Vicky_." I said with a giggle.

" _Urgh. Don't you start too. I need you to keep me sane tonight."_

 _"Tom kinda reminds me of Xav you know."_

 _"Yeh he kind of does. Maybe that's why we get along so well._ " Victor said thoughtfully.

"Aren't you two just adorable! Almost looks like you're having your own private conversation there." Tom interrupted Victor and my telepathic conversation.

"Maybe we're just tryna drown you out Tom?" Victor joked quickly to draw the attention off the two of us.

"Very funny Vick. Remind me why we're friends again?"

"Because I'm just hilarious. Anyway Tommy, I do believe my brother and sister in law just walked in, you'll have to excuse us."

"Sure sure. I'll see you for a drink later, and nice meeting you Soraya, save me a dance?" Tom finished with a wink for me as he disappeared into the crowd again.

Victor and I walked off toward Trace and Diamond who had just arrived. Diamond had on an amazing silvery sheath dress which showed off her growing baby bump and looked stunning in. Next to her, wearing a similar tux to Victor, was a very handsome Trace who looked like all his Christmases had come at once with such a stunning girl on his arm. Spotting us, Diamond waved and began to tow Trace over.

"Vick, Soraya! Oh gosh, you two look amazing! I do love this dress Soraya, aren't you glad we persuaded you to buy it? Crystal has such a good eye too to pick it out!" Diamond gushed as she kissed Victor on the cheek, and then pulled me in for a hug. Victor hugged his brother, before the two struck up a quiet conversation.

"Yeh, I suppose so. You look amazing to Di, as usual!" I said as we pulled back.

"Oh, I look fat and old, but thanks anyway! Have you seen Uri and Tarryn yet? Are they here?"

"No I don't think so." I replied glancing around the room.

"Oh well, shall we get some drinks? And look at the seating plan, I presume we'll all be sitting together? We usually are." She gushed as it was her this time who slipped her arm through mine. We walked into the reception room and were greeted by waiters with trays of champagne. I took one as we walked past, while Diamond grabbed a glass of orange juice.

"Very fancy this isn't it?" I said sipping my champagne.

"Oh yeh." Trace called from behind. "They spare no expenses on these do's, we're totally worth it you see!"

I half turned around, smiling at the two brothers walking side by side behind us. Each had snagged their own glass of free bubbly.

"I can take a little bit of fancy!" I said, looking round the room. We soon located the seating plan, and as Diamond predicted we were all seated together, with Tom and a few others I was yet to meet joining us at our table. Uriel and Tarryn turned up, looking as equally stunning as the other two, just before we were called for dinner. Uriel was grumbling about being late because Tarryn took so long getting ready. It was a very elaborate affair, with linen napkins and silverware cutlery and food to die for. After dinner was finished, Victor showed me off to everyone and anyone he could before we were called through to the ballroom, much like Trace was doing with his pregnant wife. It was obvious the Benedicts were huge figures on the Denver law enforcement scene – everyone knew them and everyone who didn't wanted to meet them. But Victor kept to his word and never left my side, except to ply me with more of the free champagne.

"Doesn't one of have to drive home tonight?" I asked, puzzled by his alcohol consumption. "Hope the cop isn't gonna break the law!" I said putting a hand over my mouth in mock terror.

"Definitely not. They've booked out the entire hotel, we've got a room for tonight on the FBI! Besides, it doesn't appear the alcohol is affecting me as much as it is you, does it? I hope you're going to be able to dance still?"

I had to admit, I was feeling the effects of the champagne and was therefore a little tipsy. I giggled quietly.

"Don't worry. I'm good! You're not getting out of dancing that easily!"

Sighing, Victor took my unfinished glass of champagne putting it on the table, and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Come on then, time to dance!" He said as he guided me through a huge arch to the extravagant ballroom, over to where Diamond and Trace were stood with Tarryn and Uriel.

"Hey bro, you actually gonna dance?" Uriel called as we reached them, giving Victor an affectionate punch on the arm as he spoke.

"Yes, apparently I'm being corrupted by my girl."

We all laughed, revelling at Victor making a joke as he gave me a wink.

"Wish I had my camera," Trace murmured, hiding a smirk.

"Mom'll be so proud of you Vicky!" Said Uriel as the two brothers mercilessly teased Victor, but fortunately for him he was saved by a photographer asking for a group picture. We jostled about to get into position, with Diamond trying to decide her best angle to make her look pregnant not fat. Victor placed his arm around my waist as I folded my hands neatly in front of me around my clutch. We broke formation at the photographers signal, before he pulled Victor and I aside for an individual one.

"May I take the two of you on your own please Mr Benedict?"

"Of course." Victor murmured in reply, once again pulling me into him gently by my waist. I placed one of my hands on his stomach feeling his hard abs through his shirt. I smiled, hoping I didn't look too plain next to this stunningly handsome man.

Shortly after, the announcement of the first dance saved Victor from any further teasing from his brothers. He dragged me onto the dance floor and took me in his arms as the music started. Who'd have known it, Victor Benedict could dance! He was an pro, spinning and twirling and swinging me all around the dance floor for what seemed like forever. I was handed off to dance with Trace, then Uriel, then back to Victor, and then Tom appeared. I was exhausted after a that dance and retreated to the chairs around the edge of the floor, only to be accosted by a reenergised Victor who had sat the last dance out.

"Giving up on already sweetheart?" He said jokily, crouching down beside my chair with his hand resting on my thigh.

"Fraid so. I'm exhausted!" I puffed, still out of breath from my dance with Tom. "And my heels are killing me!"

"Don't know why you women put yourselves through it you know. We could head to bed if you want? I've done the rounds, said hello to everyone I need to."

"Mmm, maybe one more dance? You haven't had a turn in ages!" I said fiddling with his collar.

"Well if you're up to it!"

"Defiantly. Let's go Benedict."

After we had done, Victor took my hand and led me from the ballroom. He paused at reception to collect our key, so I took the opportunity to whip my shoes off to save my aching feet. As I finished, he bent down and scooped them up before I had chance to pick them up myself.

"Wouldn't want you thinking I'm no gent now would we?" He said with a smirk, before wrapping his arm around my shoulders to walk me up to our room.


	24. Chapter 23

A few days after the ball, Victor and I caught a plane to London Heathrow airport to sort out all my affairs in England. We didn't plan it to be a very long trip, I was clearing out my flat to either be sold, binned, or brought over with me, and since the flat was rented as a furnished flat I didn't have to worry about much. We had both taken relatively empty suitcases to bring back as much of my clothes as we could, taking only the essentials with us on the outward journey, and we were flying first class, on the FBI. I had meetings with the U.S. embassy and the passport office to sort out my visa and passport – thanks to Victor's connections I was a priority application so the documents were all ready, I just needed to sign papers. I was also going in to the Net to fill in paperwork for my transfer to Denver. Victor had signed off work for a week, although we didn't plan to be there that long. It all sounded so simple in theory, there was just the small matter of Will and Saul's warning looming over us. Neither Victor or I mentioned it, but I could tell it was constantly playing on his mind - I couldn't imagine him leaving me alone for one second this trip. This is how we came to be sitting comfortably in the first class departure lounge at Denver airport waiting for our flight to be called, with Victor not letting me out of his sight once.

I had been absently reading my book, leaning slightly against Victors shoulder while he constantly scanned the waiting lounge with his hawk like eyes, when our flight was announced. I was like a little child as we queued at the gate – I had never flown first class before and I was definitely going to indulge in all the freebies! Victor dealt with the boarding passes at the gate as I strained for a glimpse of the plane we were getting on before towing me down the walkway to the plane door.

"Mr Benedict, Miss Abdali, seats 6A and 6B, on the right hand side." The sweet as pie hostess said with a glance at our boarding cards, indicating the general direction. She did a double take as she registered Victor, and looked him up and down before catching herself and carrying on with her over rehearsed spiel. "Refreshments will served once we reach our cruising altitude, dinner will be approximately 4 hours in. Please make yourselves comfortable and we will be taking off as soon as everyone is seated. My colleagues will assist you with anything you require in the meantime." She finished with one of the biggest smiles I had ever seen, directed purely at my man. Little Miss Barbie, as I named her in my head, received the Mr Ice treatment from Victor however as he muttered a sharp thank you, and I couldn't help a little smug smile creeping onto my face. We took our seats, with me nabbing the window one much to Victor's amusement.

"What if I wanted the window seat?" He asked with a smile, sitting down next to me and leaning over.

"Well tough. First come first served Mr Benedict!"

"Fine. I get it on the way back though!"

We both knew if I wanted the window seat I'd get it – Victor would do anything to make me happy including something as petty as letting me have the seat I wanted. We settled in for the long haul, and were immediately accosted by a second Little Miss Barbie with a gratingly high voice and American accent.

"Hey, my names Cindy and I'll be your hostess for the flight. Is there anything I can get you guys, a drink, food, anything to make you more comfortable?" I didn't like the way she was leaning over Victor, her blouse undone that button too far revealing an eyeful of cleavage right at Victor's eye line. I gave her a death stare, which didn't matter as she was completely ignoring me and studying Victor with great interest, a fake smile plastered on her foundation caked face.

"Just some water for me, please." Victor asked quietly. "Soraya?" He said turning the attention to me. The hostess flicked her hair over her shoulder irritably as Victor rubbed the back of my hand soothingly, smirking as he did.

"Whatever." I said turning my attention to the window as I'm sure I felt Victor chuckle.

"How about I bring you guys a selection, few bits of food and drink?" Cindy offered, flashing her pearly whites at Victor.

"Sure. And some pillows and blankets?" Victor said. Trust him to think of my needs even when I was being a jealous cow.

"No problem. I'll go grab those for you!" Cindy finished flouncing off shaking her arse.

"Soraya." I could hear the amusement in Victor's voice as he spoke softly.

"What?" I said moodily, my chin resting on my hand which was propped up on the window.

"You know you don't have to be jealous. I don't even look twice at anyone else now. Why would I?" I felt his fingers on my cheek, coaxing me to turn my head to him.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because Little Miss Barbie the 2nd was all over you? Little slut can't even button her shirt properly." Victor tried to hide his amusement so as not to wind me up even more as I sat with my arms folded like a child.

"I didn't notice." He said still holding my chin gently with his hand.

"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed pulling away. "She was practically hanging out of her bra!"

"Soraya, honestly, I didn't notice. I don't care." He cupped my cheek once more and leant in closer. "I'm a one woman man." He breathed as he lent in and pressed his lips gently against my pouting ones, just as Little Miss Barbie returned.

"Sorry to break you guys up!" She said with a little giggle as Victor pulled back from me. She looked anything but sorry. She proceeded to spread out a selection of snacks and some drinks on the table in front of us, leaning right over Victor shoving her chest in his face in the process. Victor dropped his head down towards me, rubbing his chin with his hand to hide his smile. He looked up at me his eyes bright with amusement, cocking one eyebrow at my scowl.

" _Little Miss Barbie the 2nd?_ " He questioned.

" _The one on the door was number one."_ I said grumpily.

"There you guys go, the pillows and blankets are in the locker overhead, anything else I can get you?" Cindy said as she finished her stretching display to reach the overhead lockers.

" _Yeh a new hostess. One who can dress herself properly and has the decency not to flirt with taken men._ " I said for Victor's ears only, still throwing daggers at the girl.

"No, that's all thank you." Victor said, his lips pursed as he desperately tried not to laugh at me.

"No problem, just press the call button if you need anything!" And she took off once more shaking her annoyingly shapely hips as she sashayed down the aisle looking for her next victim.

"What am I gonna do with you baby?" Victor said grinning, still running his hand along his chin as he lent on it.

"Compel me not to be jealous of the millions of girls I'm gonna have to put up with flirting with you?" I half joked.

"I quite like jealous you. You're cute."

"Not helping matters Vick." I said digging into a packet of crisps Barbie had left us. I resolved to make her life as troublesome as I could this journey and be the passenger from hell. As I munched away, I grabbed the leaflet from the holder tucked in beside my seat. Free champagne. Probably the cheap stuff, but still worth it. I pressed the call button above my head.

"Baby what are you doing?" Victor said in amusement.

"Just making Little Miss Barbie work for her wage." I said innocently.

"For the whole journey?"

"Well if I need her the whole journey then yes, it's her job isn't it? We'll have to wait and see." I said as Cindy reappeared instantly asking Victor what she could help him with.

"Actually it's me you can help. Could we have our free champagne please? We'd love to celebrate our first trip together, wouldn't we honey?" I asked as sweetly as I could manage, placing my hand possessively on Victor's shoulder. He humoured me with a smile and a nod up at Barbie.

"Oh, of course. I'll get that right away." She somehow managed to be even sweeter than I was, the girl was a professional.

I kept it up the whole journey, with Barbie getting more and more frustrated with my relentless and sometimes ridiculous requests. She had to hold her tongue on so many occasions, although she looked like she wanted to say something more than once. Victor sat there through all of our interactions sporting a grin, as he tapped away on his laptop or read through papers.

"Can you show me to the toilet?" He asked incredulously as I returned to my seat after having Barbie take me to the toilet.

"It's a big plane." I said simply as I settled back into my seat.

I only gave up with my little game when my eyelids began to droop, and Victor, noticing straight away, immediately jumped up to pull out a pillow and blanket from the locker for me. As I shook the blanket out, he put the pillow on his shoulder, holding it in place until I dropped my heavy head onto it.

"Comfortable?" He asked.

I nodded slightly with a yawn, as I drifted off to sleep.

I was woken by Victor as the plane began its decent, glad I was asleep when Barbie had come to inform us of this. I had one last interaction with her, as we left the plane – I couldn't help having one last jab.

"Thank you so much for your help Cindy!" I smarmed, earning a fake smile from her before Victor wrapped his arm around my shoulders to drag me subtly away.

"You know I've seen a whole new side to you this trip. I didn't peg you as the jealous type, how wrong was I!" He said as we walked up the tunnel.

"Well. She was a bitch."


	25. Chapter 24

**A.N: Sorry this took longer than usual, but here's the next chapter. It's not much, just a bit of waffle, but please stick with it even if this is a bit boring, it's just kind of setting the scene, background stuff y'know. All the same, I'd love if you left a review for my waffle and let me know what you think!**

* * *

We had hired a car from the airport for our trip, and were currently speeding along the motorway to meet up with my landlord. We had decided to stay in my flat while we were here to save a bit of money, so he was meeting us there. I sung along with the crappy chart songs on the radio I had insisted listening to, much to Victor's delight. I was quite happy to be back in England, as my mood was reflecting. Of course it was raining, but for once in my life I didn't care – it was English, good old very English rain and it was glorious.

45 minutes later, we pulled up outside my flat near the centre of London. There were no parking spaces, and I could see my landlord waiting so I hopped out to deal with him while Victor looked for a place to park.

"Mr Trevalyn, thanks for meeting me!" I said shaking his hand. Since Victor had settled my rent payments and dealt so efficiently with him over the phone, Mr Trevalyn was now our best friend.

"Miss Abdali. Welcome home, albeit for a short period. I presume you and Mr Benedict are staying here for the duration of your stay?"

"Yes, we are. Just until I can clear everything out."

"I'll leave this key with you then," he said handed it to me along with a few pieces of paper. "Just an inventory checklist, so you know what came with the flat when you moved in, I know it was a while. And there's a document to sign confirming you're moving out, you can just give that in when you hand the keys back. If you need anything else, just give me a bell." He finished as Victor came around the corner swinging the car keys absently in his hand as he approached.

"You must be Mr Benedict?" Trevalyn said as he offered his hand to Victor.

"Yes, good to finally meet you in person Mr Trevalyn." He said without a hint of a smile. My landlord was receiving intimidating Victor it would seem, and it was obvious who was top dog here even after this smallest of interactions between the two.

"Likewise Mr Benedict. Anyway I must get going. Busy man. Give me a ring when you leave, Soraya." And with that he walked off down the street.

"I like him more and more every time I talk to him." Victor said matter of factly as he watched Mr Trevalyn disappear down the road.

"My my. Victor Benedict does sarcasm. Where's my camera?" I mocked, patting my pockets looking for my imaginary camera.

"Very funny. Shall we?" He said changing the subject and opening the gate into my flats block.

My flat was just as I had left it four months ago, but now included a mountain of mail on my doorstep. Groaning, I bent down as the pile was spread out by the door opening, to pick it up. There was loads of it, I would have to sort through it all. At least all my bills had been on direct debits so I hadn't missed payments on my electricity or water, or my phone bills. What little food I'd left in the fridge was more than off – I quickly dispatched Victor with a bag to the wheelie bin outside. When he came back in, I set him the job of packing up my books into boxes, to be taken to the charity shop while I sorted through my mail. I had picked put my favourites, which would be coming back with us. The rest I could deal without.

I dealt with the most important letters, mainly ones from the banks which allowed me to cancel all my cards as I would take out an American account as soon as I got settled there. Surprisingly the majority of the rest was junk mail, which could be binned. By the time I had finished it was past 8 pm our time, and although we weren't tired due to the time change we knew we had to sleep at a normal time. Having no food in, we walked down the road and ordered from my favourite Chinese to take home.

The next morning, I packed Victor off to the supermarket with a list and tasked him with restocking my fridge for the week. While he was gone, I demolished my wardrobe, shoving all my clothes into the two suitcases Victor and I had brought with us. It was so nice to see some of my own clothes instead of the new, unfamiliar ones I'd bought in America. It took me forever to sort it all out – I basically wanted all of my clothes to come with me which it soon became evident wasn't going to happen! I was attempting to wrestle my last pair of shoes into the tiniest gap in the case when Victor poked his head around the door having returned from the shop.

"Err, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not sure they're gonna fit baby!" He said skeptically.

"Nearly…. Got em…." I panted as they finally slotted into place. Sitting back on my heels, I looked up triumphantly, and blew a loose piece of my fringe from my face with a puff.

"Case nil, Soraya 1." Victor said with a smile. "I got us some lunch, you hungry?" He said retreating out of the room.

"Starving!" I said jumping up to race through to the kitchen after him.

* * *

After lunch, Victor and I hopped on the tube to travel to the passport office and American embassy for my appointments. Victor was accompanying me to ensure there were no problems – as he'd used his contacts to rush through my applications and prioritise me, he wanted to check there was no confusion. I was grateful for the company, as we arrived early for my passport interview and had to sit for 20 minutes. However once in, my new passport was secured and I was good to go. Trust Victor to have the two appointments arranged so precisely, as we were no sooner out of the passport office and off to the embassy for a perfectly timed arrival. Securing my visa had been a handful for Victor, but as he was vouching for me and was such a credible man, they soon gave me one and I was free to return and live with Victor in the U.S. We went into a nearby cocktail bar for a celebratory drink after we were finished, which I managed to persuade him to let me pay for as a small thank you for all his hard work getting the visa. He spewed some gush about me living with him was thanks enough, but I preferred a more solid thanks, even something as small as a drink.

Now all that was left to sort was the Net and my flat. I planned to go to the Net the next day, on my own while Victor took care of some work – his British associates had heard about his trip and insisted he looked over some cases for them. So the plan was I would get back and try and finish up with my packing so all going to plan, we could fly out the next day as we wanted to.


	26. Chapter 25

The next morning I set off once again on the familiar tube route to the Nets HQ in Britain, located right in the heart of London. It was an unassuming building, like any other office block in the city - it's real secret lay beneath the surface.

Underground bunkers and stores sat hundreds of meters underneath the building, hiding files on almost every savant in the world, while other rooms housed hundreds of weapons and ammunition for the ops the Net runs. As it wasn't my job to be in the front line of action on such ops, I'd never spent much time in any of those rooms. I could fire a gun, it was part of the compulsory training any operative received while working for this branch of the Net, but I wouldn't use any firearm on ops unless absolutely necessary.

My swipe card was still active, meaning I sidestepped security and was able to head straight in to the main net building, where I was greeted by almost every single person I met in the corridors. I eventually made it up to Laurie Gray's office, who was expecting me. We shared a cup of tea as we chatted away, and Laurie told me about her correspondence with the head of the Net in Denver, a man named Gerry MacIntosh. He was more than happy to have me join his team, and so I signed the papers for my transfer. It all seemed to be falling into place. As I got up to leave, Laurie hugged me tightly.

"I'll be so sad to see you go Soraya." She said as she squeezed me. "Don't be a stranger ok? Keep in touch!" She made me promise as I retreated from the room.

"I will Laurie. Thanks for everything!"

"No problem, safe journey!" She waved as I shut the door.

Again, it took me a while to get out of the building, as I was stopped every now and again by old friends and had to explain my transfer to the U.S. As all employees here were savants, I had no qualms with telling them about Victor, and received mixed responses. The majority of people were overjoyed and extremely happy for me, but there was the odd grumbler who couldn't hide their jealousy, or didn't try to. I couldn't even feel bitter towards the ones who weren't happy – I was in a good place right now and nothing was dampening my spirit. Not even the torrential rain which had made an appearance while I'd been inside and was now lashing down. I pulled my jacket up tighter around my neck as I jogged over to the tube station a couple of minutes away. Thankfully it was quiet, not being a peak time, and I nabbed a seat once I jumped on the tube. The seat next to me was taken by a man who had got on after me at the same stop, who murmured a hello as he sat down. Not wanting to be rude, I nodded in return.

As the tube approached my station, I got up to head to the exit when a voice made me turn around.

"Excuse me love! I think you dropped this!" The man sat next to me had risen and was approaching me, holding something out. I couldn't think what it would be, so I presumed it wasn't mine.

"Oh I don't think so, I didn't drop anything!" I said with a smile.

"I actually think it is. You are Soraya? Soraya Abdali?" He pushed without looking down at the item he was holding.

My heart skipped a beat. How did this man know who I was?

"Emm, ye…yes I am." I stuttered.

"Then you dropped this. Have a nice day, Miss Abdali." His last sentence was dripping with what sounded like malice, and he wore a stupid grin like he knew something I didn't as he extended his hand for me to take the card he was offering. It was my Net card. There was no picture on it, Net policy to better protect identities, so how had the man known who I was? Unless he had already known. Maybe it was no coincidence he got on the same tube as me. Maybe it was no coincidence he had chosen the seat right next to me even though others were free. Maybe it was no coincidence that my Net card which I'd slipped into my pocket when I left was now in the hand of this stranger who could have so easily picked it out of my pocket as he sat next to me. Maybe, he was double checking he had the right person. My mind was going wild with possibilities as I snatched the card from him.

"Thank you. Silly me!" I tried to sound offhand and cheerful as the tube stopped and I scurried out as fast as my legs could carry me. As I hurried to lose myself in the crowds, I couldn't help experiencing the same feeling of fear I had had in the car park on our shopping trip a few weeks ago in Aspen – and I could practically feel the strangers eyes boring holes in my back.

I didn't relax until I was safely back in my flat, and even then I was jumping at shadows. So I did the only thing I could think to do – ring Victor. My hand was shaking as I put the phone up to my ear, biting my lip in anticipation. He answered after the first ring.

"Hi, are you ok?" He asked straight away. Was I ok? Was I being paranoid? Maybe I could put it down to my experience in Afghanistan, I had just dealt with it better since working on the techniques Uriel and Xav had suggested. Maybe the guy had just read my name on the card and thought it was the easiest way to check it was mine.

"Em I'm not sure." I replied tentatively.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Victor demanded immediately – I could sense I had his full attention now.

"Well I don't know, I could be being stupid, but I supposedly dropped my Net card on the tube home and some guy picked it up and gave it to me. Only he knew my name and that it was me, it felt like…. Well it felt like he was checking I was who he was looking for."

There was a long pause where I could almost feel the cogs turning in Victor's head.

"Where are you now?"

"I'm back in the flat."

"Did anyone follow you?"

"Not that I noticed, Vick what's wrong?" I asked, scared now.

"Nothing, I'm just being over careful. Don't leave the flat and don't let anyone in until I get there, I'm on my way back now." He informed me before hanging up. I couldn't help the feeling of relief wash over me with the knowledge that soon I would be safe with Victor, but at the same time I was now more terrified that Victor felt the need to come all the way back.

I plonked myself on down and the sofa, hugging a cushion to my stomach as I worked through the breathing exercises Xav had taught me to keep myself calm while I waited for Victor. I was in a zen like state when a knock at the door scared me half to death. I extracted myself from the sofa and padded cautiously over to the door to peek through the spy hole. Relief engulfed me as I pulled the door open just enough for Victor to sidestep into the flat. One of his arms wrapped itself around my shoulders drawing me in while the other pushed the door closed behind him.

"Baby are you alright?" He asked framing my face with his hands, and making me lift my head to look in his eyes. All I wanted was to bury my face in his strong, warm chest and feel safe and loved but I nodded quickly to appease him.

"Come on let's sit down. I need you to tell me everything." Victor said leading me to the sofa. I wanted to sit down and for Victor to pull me into his arms and play with my hair or tickle my arms or whisper sweet nothings in my ear like he always did, but this wasn't my Vick, this was Agent Benedict, with a hint of my Vick thrown in as to not intimidate me too much. We sat side on, facing each other on the same sofa. I was sat cross legged, with him with one leg folded underneath him. He produced his notebook from his jacket pocket. I could see pages and pages of scribbled notes as he flicked through to find a clean page, while I looked on dubiously.

"What am I Vick, one of your cases?" I said bitterly.

He looked up at me, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I just want all the facts Soraya. This will help me remember." He replied tapping his pen against the notebook. I stared him down, until he gave in with a sigh and thrust his hand through his hair frustratedly. "Cut me some slack babe please, look I lied on the phone. I am worried, and me being like this, dealing with it professionally is the only way I can do this without freaking both of us out. It's all I know to do."

With those few sentences he made me feel like a bitch. I knew what he was like, I knew how he worked. He was scared, scared for me and wanted to help.

"Sorry." I whispered with my head down, taking the end of his deep dark green tie and fiddling with it.

"It's ok. Just help me to help you. Tell me everything that happened."

I launched into my story with a small voice, starting from the moment I left the Net HQ and slipped my card in my jacket pocket. He interrupted me on a few occasions, with quick questions to clarify points, all the while scribbling away on his notebook with a practised hand.

"Can I see the jacket?" He asked after I had finished. I nodded and jumped up to grab it from where I had thrown it on my way in. Victor took it and examined the pockets.

"Hmm. I see what you mean - there's no way it could have fallen out of these pockets, they're deep." This confirmed my suspicions the man had picked it from my pocket when we sat down. There were some real professionals in the big cities.

"Do you remember what this man looked like?" I nodded slightly, I could just about remember. "I need you to tell me as much as you can, as many little details as possible." Victor said softly.

"Well he was late twenties, thirties maybe. Dirty blonde hair, shaggy and blonde. Bit taller than me."

"What was he wearing?" Victor prompted.

I screwed my eyes up, straining to remember. "Jeans. Dark blue baggy jeans and a beige jacket. I can't remember anything else, I wasn't paying attention." I admitted.

"That's alright. Can you remember if he had any defining features that you saw? Any scars, tattoos, prominent features?"

"Yes! Yes, he had a tattoo, on the inside of his wrist. I saw it when I took the card back, I don't know what it was but there was definitely something there!"

Victor scribbled away like a mad man, before murmuring gently to me.

"That's good, that's perfect. Ok, we can get an I.D on him from this I'm sure. Give me a minute."

Sitting back down on the sofa while Victor poured over his notes, I absently pulled at a thread on a cushion, to hide my shaking hands. A few minutes later Victor joined me, a serious look on his face.

"This is going to be a bit of a shock, but I need to tell you some things. Things I've known for a while but deemed best to keep quiet. Things which could change how you view some some people. Things that could change how you view me."

"Vick what are you talking about? You're scaring me…" I trailed off.

"Don't be scared Soraya, please don't. Just hear me out. And remember I'm all about the job. If I'm told something's classified, I don't say a word. Ever. I shouldn't be telling you this, but a lot of things are going to make a lot more sense after I finish."


	27. Chapter 26

**A.N: I hope you're enjoying the story, thanks for all the reviews so far! This is a very wordy chapter but hopefully a good one! Please please leave a review!**

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I was lost in a circular sea of steely grey which consumed my entire world. I didn't know what was coming, I couldn't see the horizon, just the endless granite waves. The future was hazy too, hazy like my grey ocean world. But I knew whatever was coming, whatever was on the horizon and whatever the future held, it would determine whether I would sink or swim through my liquid silver sea.

I drew myself out of Victor's eyes with a start, refocusing on my surroundings and preparing myself for whatever he was going to drop on me. My chaotic surroundings reflected my thought patterns – I was surrounded by an array of boxes and clothes and suitcases, all with various destinations. I could have various destination options by the end of this I thought miserably.

"Ok. Ask any questions, interrupt if you want, just let me finish?" Victor said snapping me out of my daze. I simply nodded in reply.

"This is to do with your parents."

"My parents? What the hell do you know about my parents?"

"More than you, apparently. Remember when we were driving to Denver, I asked you about them? I'm pretty sure you noticed my reaction when you told me their names, you just didn't say anything. You trusted me when I said it was nothing." He looked at me with his eyes so full of love from my trust. "I lied. I lied to you and I'm sorry. I know where your parents are, I know what happened to them after they left you and I know why they left you."

I was speechless, perfecting my goldfish impression as I gaped at him willing words to form.

"I would have told you, I would have told you straight away but I didn't think it would ever matter. It was FBI stuff, I'm sworn to secrecy about any case, particularly this one, we didn't even know they were savants. I found out that savants were all over this case, but I dealt with that part of it in the quiet."

"Vick, are my parents dead?" I whispered.

"No. No they're not dead. They're under witness protection, in a small town in Montana."

"Why are they there? What happened?"

"My team got the case, by pure chance. A couple contacted the police reporting they were being harassed. They had fled their home country 20 years ago to escape but had now been found, in England where they had been living for the 20 years. It was just the two of them, no one else and they'd been forced to report it to the police after all their other options had been exhausted. It was a long process, I won't bore you with the details, but they decided to send them to America, where they were placed under witness protection. Like I said, my team were given the case, and I stumbled across the fact they were savants. I managed to get more out of them, much more. I learnt it was all savant related - in their home country the mans brother was part of a savant ring, who selected certain young savants for a training program. The couple themselves were too old for it now, but they were soulfinders, and married meaning they were the perfect candidates to have children."

"What was the training program?" I jumped in with, not looking up.

"It wasn't a good program. The Net have been trying to foil it for years, but the ring just shuts down operations and opens up else where. We can't operate properly in a war zone, it's the perfect location for them. But from what we gathered, the program was based on training young savants to fight and kill, all with the aim of taking down the Net brick by brick."

A Net assassination school in a war torn county. Who the hell thinks up stuff like this? People really despised the Net that much.

"I'm sure you understand, the Net has a lot of enemies. Not just enemies, but people like your parents, who developed the view that we savants should be left to our own business. If it really came down to it, there's a fifty fifty chance as to which side they'd take – for or against."

I nodded again. I knew all too well what he was talking about.

"Your parents weren't always opposers of the Net. There was a time they were big players, but everything changed. But despite their best efforts, the couple somehow became pregnant. They confided in me that thought there was some savant involvement in it, they'd been so careful. They wouldn't give up their child, and they didn't want it to be subjected to a life of endless training and killer instincts, so they fled, to England."

We were both quiet for a while, giving me chance to process the story.

How long ago was it that you dealt with this case?" I asked, looking for confirmation for my suspicions.

"Six years ago." Victor replied quietly. I nodded in understanding. Six years ago, when I was twenty. When we'd been living in England for 20 years. Just after I'd joined the Net.

"Soraya, do you see now? There's a reason your parents didn't stay in Afghanistan when they found out they were having you. There's a reason they didn't want you joining the Net…"

"I'd be exposed. They'd be able to find me." I interrupted him, everything making a lot more sense now. "That's what my parents said to me, I thought they were talking rubbish. But they were just trying to protect me."

"Yes." Victor said softly. "There's more. I think the op in Afghanistan, the one you so eagerly volunteered for, it was all a trick, to draw you out. It all makes sense, what I don't understand is why they kept you locked up for three months though. I don't know what they were planning, but I'm sure it's all connected."

My breathing became more erratic as the realisation crashed down on me like a tonne of bricks. We had never understood how we were ambushed the second we got off the plane. It was mayhem, and it appeared nobody else had been taken like me. Because they were only after me. All my team had presumably died, died because of me. I could feel the tears cascading down my cheeks, all my pent up emotion from the day surfacing. I was scared about what was coming. And I was angry at myself for hating my parents, when all they were trying to do was look after me. Like they had been doing since the day they left Afghanistan.

…Soraya? Soraya can you hear me?" Victor's concerned voice somehow broke through my thoughts and I locked onto it, refocusing my attention.

"Why didn't they tell me? Why didn't they just tell me. Then everything would have been fine. Everything would have been different!" I sobbed at Victor who looked on helplessly. He knew there was nothing he could say or do to make this situation any better right now.

"I don't know." He admitted. "Maybe they thought it would be alright. They'd been fine for twenty years, maybe they just wanted to see you fulfil your dream."

"How could I be such an awful daughter?! They gave up everything for me!"

"Soraya sshh. You're not awful. You had it in your head what you wanted to do, I bet no one could change that, not even your own parents." Victor had drawn me into his embrace like I'd been longing for him to do since the minute we'd sat down in the sofa. Only now, I didn't care. I was frightened, I was upset, I was angry. He soothingly stroked my hair, while his other hand drew patterns on my back.

"That man today." I squeaked. "Was he something to do with this?"

I felt Victors chest rise as he sighed.

"Yes I think so. I think he was the groups operative here in England. I took Dad and Wills warning the wrong way. I thought it was more specific, they usually are but I think this is a more broad threat. I thought if you came here on your own, you'd be in danger. I think it's more now you've come here, you're in danger, and will be wherever you go now they've found you. Like a trigger for the danger. Me coming with you solved nothing. They've been searching for you for a while, probably since they found your parents six years ago. When I got you out of Afghanistan, they'll have felt hard done by. Since your parents fled, and they found out you existed, they'll believe you're owed to them. That you're theirs, and they'll stop at nothing to get you back."

Panic seized me as his words sank in.

"Vick please don't let them take me! I'm begging you, don't let them!" I cried hysterically, soaking his shirt with my tears as I wriggled around to face him. I grabbed the front of his shirt with my hands as if I'd never let go. He placed his hands over the too of mine, loosening them but didn't pull them off.

"Soraya I'd never let them! They won't lay a finger on you, I promise. I can't believe you'd actually think I'd let them near you, should know that I'd do anything to keep you safe, dammit I love you!" He blurted out in his exasperation. It was enough to freeze me, and stop my breakdown, mainly as I think I stopped breathing. He brushed a bit of my fringe back off my face behind my ear as he regained his composure, and looked me in the eye. "I love you Soraya."

 **Please leave a review!**


	28. Chapter 27

**A.N: Sorry for the delay, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it although it's a bit waffly! Please do let me know what you think with a review, I really appreciate them!**

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Victor's declaration stunned me more than the whole of the last half hours discussion. I stared at him, as he held steadily returned my gaze.

"I'd kinda like you to say something." He said nervously.

"I…I don't know what to say Vick." I looked down shyly. "Really?" I said in a tiny voice with a quick glance up, a smile gracing my lips.

"Really really." He said returning my smile, and lifting my chin with his fingers underneath it. He too, was grinning.

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him senseless while he hung on to me, as I truly didn't know what else to say.

"Is it… really… that hard… to believe?" He managed to get in between the kisses. I just laughed in response and pressed myself closer, smothering myself with Victor, safe, reliable Victor.

"Hmm baby." Victor hummed against my lips a few minutes later. I drew back with a frustrated groan, but kept my arms looped around his neck. "As much as I'm enjoying this, we have to talk about what I've just told you."

I sat back, tucking my legs underneath me as I grabbed a cushion to hug.

"I know. It was just nice to forget for a little while. What are we going to do?"

"Well firstly, I want to get you back home. We'll go and stay with Mom and Dad, call the rest of the guys up, together we'll think of something, a plan. Don't worry. We've dealt with situations like this before, and anyway you're one of us, a Benedict. We don't let anything happen to one of our own." He leant in and kissed my forehead. It felt reassuring, to have his and his family's support, I could so easily have been facing this on my own if Victor hadn't come for me in Afghanistan, and I'd already be there, initiated into whatever crazy program they had running. I'd have been stuck.

That night, Victor held me especially close as we slept, but it did nothing to stop my persistent tossing and turning as my dreams ran wild with images of deserts and guns and training scenarios, with me stuck in the middle of it all. Several times I woke with a start, my body dripping with sweat but still with Victor's strong arms circling me. He woke up every single time I did, to comfort and reassure me, and I loved him for it.

We slept in later than planned the next morning, as both of us had been up half the night thanks to me seemingly having a fight in my sleep as Victor described it. I didn't tell him the full extent of my dreams, I didn't want to worry him any more. After all, they were just dreams.

After whirling around the flat, packing up or binning any last items, it was finally cleared of all my stuff, and the boxes being shipped had been collected by the courier. I had rung Mr Trevalyn who was meeting us so I could hand in the keys and paperwork before Victor and I headed of to a nearby charity shop to dump some of my unwanted stuff. Victor was supposed to go on his own while I finished up at the flat, but in the light of recent events he wouldn't leave me on my own and so we both went. A few hours after we had woken up, we were on our way to the airport for our flight home.

On the plane, Victor had given me the window seat without arguing. As chance would have it, our air hostess was none other than Miss Barbie, again, who immediately made a beeline for Victor. One look from him had Barbie altering course before she reached us, and we were from then on in served by a more senior member of the cabin crew, who was much more professional. I was glad. I didn't have the energy to deal with Barbie and her flirting this time round and it seemed Victor felt the same. I was as likely to slap her as I was to sit there and let her flirt with my man.

We landed in Denver at just after 10am, to be greeted by the whole Denver crew. Trace, Diamond, Uriel, Tarryn and Will were all waiting in arrivals as Victor and I pushed our trolley through the door. Uriel and Will started unloading our bags after greeting us and each carried more than they should have been able to manage out to the car as Diamond engulfed me in a hug. I was on the verge of tears, so laughed off her worried expression. Tarryn also pulled me in for a hug, but was less dramatic about the situation than Diamond. Her hug still showed me how much she cared though. Diamond kept an arm wrapped around my shoulder as we walked as a three to the cars where Uriel and Will were waiting, with Trace and Victor behind us.

"We're going to go back to the flat, drop off Soraya's stuff and then we'll head up home." No nonsense Victor announced.

"Ok, we'll drop you off if you want?" Trace offered.

"Yeh thanks. I'll take my car up to home too though, you don't need to wait for us."

"No problem, let's get these bags in and head off." Trace said grabbing a bag from Will's feet to hoist into the boot.

Uriel and Tarryn headed off with Will in their car, leaving us to get a lift with the other two.

Once at the flat, Diamond and Trace drove off for Wrickenridge, with our promise that we wouldn't be far behind them. I didn't bother putting away any of my stuff, just re packed what I needed to take up with me. Victor did the same, grabbing some clean clothes and all of his work gear. He would work like a man possessed to sort this out, I could tell.

An hour or so later we were once again making the spectacular drive through Colorado to Wrickenridge. We were a lot more muted this time, with the mood somewhat grimmer. When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by the ever exuberant Karla and company. Although they tried to hide it, they were all concerned and were worried for me - even Xavier was somber and took the situation seriously though. Victor, along with the majority of his brothers stayed up late that night discussing the situation, each working away on laptops or making phone calls to their contacts. A little after 2am, I was vaguely aware of Victor coming to bed. He had woken up before I did the next morning, and was sat in the kitchen surrounded by an array of papers and his laptop. Uriel was sat opposite him, nursing a cup of coffee and looking very bleary eyed. He looked up as I came in the kitchen.

"Hey Soraya. How you doing?" He asked as he sat up straighter and blinked as few times, trying to look less sleep deprived – he knew I wouldn't approve. Victor also threw me a glance as he noticed me, but was so engrossed in his work I left him to it.

"Better than you look like you're doing Uri." I said grimly, going over to make some toast. "Have you two eaten?" I hoped they had, or I was going to play merry hell.

"Err, we were just about to…" Uriel said throwing a desperate glance at his brother, hoping for back up. I spun around, shoving my hands on my hips giving my best disapproving Karla stare.

"You've barely slept, you haven't eaten, you can't just survive on coffee!" I chastised them.

"Baby we're fine." Victor said, finally dragging his attention from the laptop. "This stuffs important, I'm much happier working than worrying about getting enough sleep."

"Well eating is important! You won't be able to work effectively if you don't eat! I'm putting you both some toast on."

"Did someone mention toast?" Another bleary eyed Benedict sauntered into the kitchen in a pair of grey boxers, stretching his arms above his head.

"Not you too Xav?" I sighed, wondering how many more of the brothers were struggling from lack of sleep and food.

"Mmm… Your soulfinders a slave driver." Xav complained as he flopped down on a chair at the breakfast bar. "Good job I've got nothing better to be doing, oh wait, I do though don't I? I could be sleeping. What do you want Vick?"

"I wanted to discuss some logistics. Medically related."

"Medically related logistics you say. Three words which at this time in the morning make little to no sense to me Vick, so I'm thinking I'll have even less clue when you explain these medically related logistics. How's about you try me again in a few hours?"

"How's about you take this seriously, for once in your life Xavier?" Victor spat with a face like thunder directed at Xav. I saw Xav open his mouth to argue back, and stepped in before the damage could be done. I knew I was the only one who could sway Victor before one of the brothers would end up saying something they'd regret.

"Vick lay off him. You've had him up half the night, the poor guy needs his sleep!" I said softly, giving Victor my best pitiful look. I gained Victor's attention as his eyes visibly softened while he looked at me, processing my words.

"Fine. Sorry Xav. Get some sleep, you worked hard last night. I'll talk to you later." Vick said returning his gaze to his laptop with a sigh. Xav swivelled his head between Victor and I in a comical fashion, not believing his eyes.

"Her, I like!" Xav announced slipping off the breakfast stool. "And she's got you wrapped around her finger! Watch it bro, you might lose your reputation as the big bad Benedict!" Xav called merrily over his shoulder as he slouched back up the stairs, chuckling to himself.

" _He's right you know. You're gonna unman me baby."_ Victor said glumly without looking at me.

" _Well I'm the only one who can, it's my only weapon against you!"_ I replied cheekily. Victor looked up at me quickly, hiding a smirk with his hand before turning his attention back to his laptop.

" _You have complete and utter control over me Soraya. It should terrify me, but I don't even care._ " Victor said simply.

I looked down blushing. I was completely and totally falling in love with this man, and it had nothing to do with his own confession the other day.

I spent my morning plying the boys with coffee and food while they worked away, trying to help me. I was a constant in the busy kitchen, along with Victor who worked tirelessly, while the others came in and out to take their shift at trying to come up with something, anything. From the ever more frustrated sighs and slamming of papers on the table, they weren't getting very far. As Victor had said, operating in a war zone was pretty much a no go, but as they weren't directly coming after me yet their best option was to try and shut down the program before they even got close, and then deal with any repercussions after. It was proving to be a dead end though – Victor managing to get the permissions to rescue me from Afghanistan had been one thing, but to get the go ahead for a full blown potentially violent op with savant involvement was like trying to get a lion and antelope to be friends. By the end of the day, in which every single sleep deprived Benedict had had at least one nap each bar Victor, they'd come to the conclusion their original plan wasn't going to work. The new plan, although most likely to be successful, was dangerous and Victor didn't like it one bit. The fact he had suggested it made it concrete that it was literally our only option – he knew he had to do whatever it took to nail the case


	29. Chapter 28

I lay in bed that night with with a drained Victor finally sleeping beside me – our roles had been reversed almost now I was the one not sleeping. My mind was too busy, too awake to let sleep claim me, as I was busy contemplating the plan which had been devised. The long and short of it was, I was to be bait, hence Victor's disapproval. He hated himself for coming up with the idea, but also knew it was the only way. To say I wasn't scared would be a lie because I was petrified. Through the intelligence the Benedicts had been able to piece together from their various sources, they had concluded that 'the circle', as they were referring to it, was aware we knew of their plans involving me by now and would be expecting us to act in one way or the other. Therefore we were all going back to England where I was thought by them to be residing, where I would agree to meet with my father's brother Haseem Abdali, to discuss terms involving my surrender and return to Afghanistan. Little did he know that Victor and a whole host of FBI, squat teams and local police would be waiting in hiding to pounce. The circle was found to be a spiral of growing trust, with Haseem deemed to be in one of the most inner circles according to intelligence, meaning he could be used to draw the others out or gain more information. Either way, he would be valuable in the Nets takedown of the Afghani circle. We were hoping they weren't aware of my bond with Victor, as it would be clear the whole thing is a hoax – I would never willingly leave my soulfinder, but it would be more believable that I could be persuaded to turn on the Net to save others. The Benedicts had never dealt with such a large group of rogue savants on such a global scale, hence Victor's eagerness to involve the police and FBI. This was more their territory, the Benedicts were there to deal with the savant side. As well as being bait, I was to be a key part of the op. Just like I did when working for the Net, I would be needed to gain an overview of the gift Haseem possessed to minimise any threats. Will and Saul were on edge – they could sense a huge amount of danger directed at me and consequently their family, and it was making Will particularly unbearable to be around. The danger was making him grouchy and he snapped at anyone and anything that came near him. His father was much more measured and experienced in handling the feeling, and he had Karla to moderate him. Will had no one. The whole family, except Xav, was now reacting the vibes Will was projecting, turning the house into one giant eggshell.

By the time I'd fallen asleep that night, it was into the early hours and the sun was beginning to rise. I slept through Victors alarm and didn't wake until nearing midday, and that was only when Victor came in to see me. I rolled over groaning as the bed dipped and I felt a soft hand on my hip.

"Morning baby. Or actually afternoon." He murmured.

"It's that late? You should have woken me Vick."

"You needed the sleep – I felt you tossing and turning all night."

"Yeh. Couldn't sleep." I sighed as I sat up and crossed my legs.

"Well, I managed to save some pancakes for you, I had to fend Xav off but if you want something to eat they're a good batch!"

"Vick. Stop pretending."

"What do you mean?" He asked innocently.

"I mean you Victor! Acting like you're fine with everything, like I'm not walking into the lions den. You and I both know this is going to be dangerous and there's no point pretending otherwise."

He looked me in the eye, giving a sigh of his own.

"Soraya I have to pretend. I have to pretend this is just another case otherwise I don't know what I'll do. If it's a case, I can think clearer, I can act quicker and you'll be safer for it. I have to pretend I'm not letting my soulfinder walk into the firing line, because if I don't I won't be able to let you go."

I stared down the man sat infront of me, the kind, loving man who would do anything for his family.

"Oh Vick…" I whispered.

He looked down at my hand which was now entwined with his resting on the duvet. He looked emotional as he coughed to clear his throat, which I suspected was thick with tears.

"Soraya I can't lose you now." He said clearly returning his eyes to mine. "You're too precious to me, I don't know who I am without you anymore."

I moved onto my knees to frame Victor's face with my hands to study it briefly, before I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him in close. I breathed him in, savouring all that makes him Victor.

" _I love you, Vick. I've completely fallen in love with you._ " I whispered to him as we sat unmoving, just soaking each other up. I felt Victor give a start at my words, with a quiet strangled cry. I knew what I said meant more to him than anything, it was what he needed right now. He tightened his hold around me as he buried his head in my neck. I lost track of the time we sat there, happy to be in each other's arms. Who knew when we'd have another moment like this.

We were interrupted some time later by an apologetic Phee.

"Oh. Oh gosh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." She said blushing as she made to back out of the door. Victor and I pulled apart, with him looking away from the door to hide his face, hide his emotion. Couldn't have Mr Ice actually showing some feelings.

"Wait, it's ok Phee! What was it?" I called hopping off the bed. Phee paused half hugging the door frame as she lent back into the room to stop and talk.

"Sorry. Karla sent me up to see if you wanted the pancakes we saved? She's practically been fending Xav off with a spatula! I swear that boys a human rubbish bin, I don't know where he puts it all!" Phee joked.

"Now that sounds familiar. Let him have them, I'll make something else for lunch. Do you me to make you something too?" I asked out of politeness.

"Oh sure yes. Thanks Soraya!"

"No problem. I'll be down in a minute, I'll just get dressed." I turned around to grab some clothes to find Victor still sat on the bed, head turned away from the door. I gently touched his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"You want some lunch? I'm going to head down and make something." I said softly as I went to the dresser.

"Yes, sure. I'll come and help you." He said finally unlocking his muscles and moving. He waited until I had pulled my pyjama top off and slipped my bra on before he kissed my forehead, promising to meet me downstairs in a few.

Victor and I ended up making lunch for the whole family, including Xavier who had wolfed down the left over pancakes and still managed to polish off the biggest portion of lunch. We all squashed into the kitchen, with Sky perched on Zed's lap and Will sat on the countertop swinging his legs – the rest of us managed to secure seats. Trace, who had been called back to Denver for work, had managed to get an extended leave much to Victor's delight, and arrived halfway through lunch accompanied by a blossoming Diamond. Karla immediately pounced on her, pulling her into the chair next to her to talk babies as I served portions of lunch up for the two of them. Trace greeted me with a kiss on the cheek along with a sympathetic look as I gave him a plate.

"I was thinking of heading into Aspen later this afternoon." I said when everyone was sitting down and eating. "I thought I would get some stuff to make dinner tomorrow night, before we go to England, have a nice family meal, if anyone has any preferences?" I looked up around the room to see Xav's eyes light up as he opened his mouth to jump in. "Not you Xav – I didn't exactly have pizza in mind." He shut his mouth straight away, crestfallen while the rest of the room burst into laughter.

"Yes she's very right Xavier. I think that's a lovely idea honey, I recommend you go and see what takes your fancy, you don't know what you'll find. And this lot will eat just about anything you put down infront of them!" Karla said, waving her hand at her beloved family. "Would you like some help? I'm happy to come with you?"

"No no, I'd like to do this myself, just a little something for everyone." I said sweetly.

"Aww, well that's very kind of you. I must give you some money though…" Karla replied, jumping up and flapping about to find her purse. "Saul honey, have you seen my purse anywhere? I can't remember… I'm sure I had it yesterday-"

"It's on the dresser in the hall sweetheart." Saul called dutifully.

"Oh of course it is! Silly me!" Karla trilled as she bustled off into the hall to retrieve said purse.

"Karla, you really don't need to! It's my treat, I'll pay!" I tried to call as she hurried off, but to no avail.

"Soraya sweetheart, I wouldn't even bother. If my wife wants to give you money, you'll be taking that money!" Saul chuckled as I gave an exasperated look after Karla.

"Well she won't be able to give it to me if I'm not here!" I giggled as I pushed my chair back and took my turn to scamper out of the room. I ran up the stairs avoiding the hallway to grab my bag and then rushed back down hoping Karla had moved back into the kitchen. Victor was leaning against the doorframe in the hallway looking like a Calvin Klein model, and glanced over his shoulder as I flew down the stairs.

"You're safe, dads corralled mom in there for the time being!" He whispered, catching me around the waist to halt my exit. "Sure you don't want me to come?"

"Nuh uh. I'm good!"

"Well be careful ok, I wish you'd let me come with you. Ring me when you're on the way back." He said seriously, his eyes begging me to take care. "Take my car." He pressed the keys quietly into my hand so as not to alert Karla to my escape.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me!" I stretched up on my tiptoes and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips, and grabbed my jacket as I bolted out of the front door.

"Victor Benedict! Was that Soraya I just saw –" I laughed as I heard Karla grilling Victor - presumably she had escaped Saul.

" _Thanks babe. I might not be here when you get back, mom's wrath might have got the better of me."_ Victor said as I reversed out of the drive.

Laughing, I projected an image of Victor melting to a pile of clothes infront of a shrieking Karla.

" _Pretty accurate baby, pray for me!_ "

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40 minutes later, I successfully made it to Aspen without straying to the wrong side of the road – it was my first time driving in America on my own and I was chuffed I had negotiated the busy highways. I jumped into Walmart and wandered around at a leisurely pace, browsing the huge, packed shelves. I decided on a typical roast beef dinner, to give the Benedicts a taste of Britain and the English girls a taste of home. After grabbing all the necessaries and something for dessert, I paid with Victor's card as I was yet to sort out my own, but fully intended to pay him back for all that I had borrowed. I strained against the dodgy wheel on my trolley as I pushed it across the car park to where I had parked Victor's BMW. It wasn't exactly the most spacious car, and as I was feeding 17 people I had bought a lot of food. I was busy playing tetris with the bags in the boot when I felt the cold, hard heavy metal of the muzzle of a gun press into the small of my back. I froze, still holding an unco-operating bag in the boot. A hand snaked around my waist, holding me in position as a mouth pressed against my ear – it stank of cigarette smoke and made me want to gag when he spoke.

"Move an inch, call out telepathically or otherwise, notify _anyone_ of your oh so unfortunate predicament, and I'll shoot you Soraya."


	30. Chapter 29

**A.N: I really hope you're enjoying my story, please tell me what you think, even one word reviews are a boost! Hahah! Anyway the real stuffs getting going now so I'd really appreciate it if you let me know your thoughts and constructive critisism is welcomed, anything to help improve my story as much as I can - more brains are better than my one! Thanks for reading and I hope you stick with it!**

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Y'know, you really made it quite easy for us Soraya. Here I was, thinking how to extract you from that ridiculous posse you've surrounded yourself with, and then you go and do it for me! So I suppose I ought to be thanking you really, my job has just become 10 times easier. Now you're gonna do exactly what I tell you to do, and one false move, you're gonna get it."

I was barely breathing as I listened to his mocking, still unaware who he was. I daren't move, the metal pressing into my back was at the forefront of my mind as I desperately thought what to do. The gun was bringing unpleasant memories to the surface, memories from Afghanistan.

"You're going to get into the car, and give me the keys. You and I are gonna take a little drive Miss Abdali."

A nudge on my back had me moving without thinking, heading to the passenger side door. My heart was screaming out to call Victor telepathically, but my head was telling me to do exactly what this man was saying. I'd had training from the Net for situations like this, but it was totally different to the scenarios they'd made up in practise. I was terrified, and struggling to think clearly.

"Keys. Now!" The stranger said, snapping his fingers at me impatiently.

"On the seat, drivers seat." I managed to whisper without my voice breaking.

"Good. Get in now, be a good girl."

I slid onto the leather seat as the man hid his gun surreptitiously by his leg as he walked around the car to get in himself, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. There was nobody paying attention to our interaction, none was noticing my kidnapping leaving me entirely on my own. I was struggling to keep my legs from shaking as he sat next to me, looking me up and down before he pulled out of the car park.

"Hmm. You're spoilt on that Benedict, bet he doesn't know what he got, lucky son of a bitch. Doesn't matter now anyway, you're ours and you'll never see your precious soulfinder again." He said. "Oh yes, we know about Victor Benedict. You think we'd let one of our prize assets walk off happily into the sunset? Oh no no no Soraya." The horrified look on my face must have given me away – he knew about my soulfinder. My mind began running wild with the possibility of what else this man and others knew.

"Wh…who are you?" I stuttered.

"Oh do forgive me my sweet Soraya, I know you but you don't know me! I'm Miles, I work for your uncle here in America." He placed his hand on his chest as he introduced himself, proud of his status apparently. Now I could see him properly, I was able to get a better idea of my kidnapper. He was young, about the same age as me I reckoned. Thin, with stringy muscles I could tell from his bunched up legs in the footwell that he was tall, almost matching Victor in height. He didn't posses any of the good looking genes Victor was graced with however - this man had greasy hair, pale sickly skin and a straggly bit of beard that looked out of place.

"My uncle?" I questioned.

"Haseem. He's been very keen to get you back safely. We'll be seeing him shortly, don't you worry. You see you do have family that care about you Soraya, you don't have to adopt those know it all Benedicts, sticking their noses in where they're not wanted. Thinking they could trick us, use you as bait too, it's hilarious. As soon as we get the go ahead from the big boss, they'll be the first to go, mark my words."

I chose to ignore his last statement and questioned the other part. How much did these people know? We hadn't even known they were aware of my location, let alone our plans and about Victor. I was so absorbed in what this man was telling me, I hadn't been paying attention and now I realised I had no idea where we were or had been.

"Just how much do you know?" I demanded, needing some information.

"Oh more than you can possibly imagine Soraya!" Miles laughed, glancing in the rear view mirror as he did. The gun was left resting on the dashboard menacingly, right infront of him. Miles seemed quite relaxed, the complete antithesis of myself. "I've been tailing you since we located you after that Benedict dragged you out of Afghanistan – basically since you arrived in Wrickenridge. You see I'm a tracker of sorts, but I work on bloodlines rather than people or objects though so as long as I have one member of a family, I can find any of the others – your uncle is my lead in this case. All except your parents, but then with your mothers gift that's not surprising. But you already know all this don't you Soraya. Yes I've felt you in my mind, getting a feel for my gift. Well, feel free, I'm an open book!" He said dramatically, throwing his arms out briefly taking his hands off the steering wheel. "But yeh, remember that shopping trip of yours in Aspen? I thought you'd rumbled me – you noticed me using telepathy didn't you?"

I nodded, remembering the tingling sensation I had felt just before I got in the car with Diamond and Crystal.

"See from then on, I kept my distance more, right up until you boarded that flight to England. I had to pass over to Ringo, our British associate. I think you might have met him?" Miles grinned over at me.

"If you mean the sleaze ball on the tube then yeh, I've had the pleasure." I replied sarcastically, keeping my eyes glued on the road ahead.

"Well. He wasn't too keen on making a move with Victor Benedict attached to you in England, he's a bit of a wuss like that so we had to wait till you got back here to the states to act. That's when we found out about the Benedicts coming together with their little plan. I really thought they were better than that, this plan of yours isn't exactly genius!" Miles guffawed.

"So you just thought you'd kidnap me instead? Your plan is so much better, do you really think the Benedicts won't come looking for me?"

"Oh we're counting on it actually." He said with a wicked grin.

"What do you mean?" I said quietly.

"Sweetheart, we want the Benedicts to come and rescue you. What better way to start our takedown of the Net than to take them out? Like I said, we just need the go ahead from the powers that be. The brilliance of it is, they won't be able to find you until we want them to, and by that time you'll be fully invested in our program and you'll probably be killing them yourself!" Miles finished, bursting into uncontrollable laughter. "Poetic, isn't it?"

I slid down lower in my chair, processing his words. If the Benedicts came for me, they'd die. If they didn't, I'd be subjected to the life I thought I'd escaped, and probably charged for committing crimes against the Net due to my involvement in the circles takedown of it if their plan succeeded. I was screwed.

Right on cue, my phone started ringing in my handbag on the back seat. I glanced at Miles, unsure what to do. He looked back at my bag, before reaching behind him to grab at it.

"Think it's time we tell lover boy of your situation. Sure he'll be sick with worry!" Miles was taking great glee from this situation, and was enjoying teasing me. Succeeding in pulling my bag through he rooted around for my phone, all the time keeping his eyes on the road. Sure enough, it was Victor.

"I was supposed to ring him when I was coming home, he'll be wondering where I am." I whispered.

"And so he should eh?" Miles answered the phone, immediately switching it to loudspeaker and balancing it on his leg.

"Soraya? Are you ok?" Victor's voice made my heart lurch – all I wanted was to be safe in his arms, but I kept quiet, waiting for Miles to take the lead and speak first.

"Well well. Victor Benedict."

There was a deathly silence as Victor worked it out, and when he replied he was Agent Victor Benedict of the FBI, immediately trying to assume command.

"Who are you?"

"I can't be bothered with introductions Benedict, I just thought you might like an update on your beloved soulfinder."

"If you have touched a hair on her head I swear to god –"

"Yeh yeh. You'll kill me or whatever, I don't really care. This is your one chance to say goodbye to Soraya, she belongs to us now, not you."

"She never belonged to me. We had each other, we _have_ each other because if you think for one second I'm letting her go, you've got another thing coming. Is she there now?"

"Fighting talk my friend."

"I'm not your friend. Is she there?" Victor's last sentence was drawn out, each word said slowly and measured – it was persuasive.

"Yes she's right here Benedict calm it. She can hear you, talk away, say your goodbyes, declare your undying love! You have 60 seconds, don't think I'm stupid enough to let you talk long enough to trace this call." Miles gestured to me to talk into the phone.

"Vick?" I said, my voice wavering despite my best efforts. It broke Victors calm façade, hearing his soulfinder scared.

"Soraya, baby. It's ok, don't be scared. I'll come for you, I promised remember?" This was my Victor.

"No Vick, don't." I whispered. It killed me to say it, but deep down I knew it was the right thing.

"Don't? What do you mean don't? Why the hell wouldn't I? Where are you now?"

"Because it's what they want." I couldn't bring myself to raise my voice above a whisper.

"Soraya don't worry about me. I can handle this idiot, we can handle them all. I just need you to be safe. Where are you baby, please?"

"No Vick don't! I'm begging you, don't come, I don't know where we are." I earned a look of approval for that.

"Soraya –"

"I love you Victor. Goodbye."

"No! Soraya I will find you! Don't give up. Please don't. I lov-"

Victor was cut off by Miles hanging up the phone. This time I couldn't hold back the tears which were now cascading down my cheeks. I pulled my knees up to my chest so my heels were resting on the seat and hugged my arms around myself, locking in the love I knew Victor had for me.

"Well that was heart wrenching." Miles said wryly, giving me more and more reason to hate the man sat next to me. "Guessing you're not in a chatty mood huh? Suits me sweetheart."

 **Let me know what you think in a review, pretty please! I'd like some feedback before I post the next chapter**!


	31. Chapter 30

**A.N: Thank you for the reviews, FindingSkyFan3, xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx, sevenofdiamonds and guests, I really do appreciate it!**

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I must have fallen asleep for a very long time, as I was woken by Miles when we stopped at a petrol station.

"C'mon sleeping beauty. We're changing cars, yours is too easy to track." Mile said opening my door and pulling me out with a hand on my upper arm. I could see the gun slipped in his jacket pocket, ever present and threatening so I complied with his request to get out of the car.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around at my mountainess surroundings which were heart achingly similar to Colorado.

"Montana – but that's all you're getting." My geography knowledge of the U.S. States was very limited, but I knew Montana wasn't a neighbouring state of Colorado meaning we were far from home, far from Victor. Good. The further the better, there was less chance of him finding me. I had been blocking the Benedicts assaults on my mind to communicate telepathically, but now I realised they were there no more, due to the distance. I also couldn't help my mind straying to my parents – they were somewhere in this state according to Victor. I hoped it was merely a coincidence we were driving through here, and not something involving my mum and dad.

"Can I use the bathroom?" I asked tentatively before we reached the other car.

"Yeh. There's one over there, I'll wait outside. And remember, no funny business." Miles said patting his jacket pocket as a reminder.

I plodded over to the outdoor toilet in no rush. This toilet break was my only escape from the car and I wasn't going to rush it, despite the less than appealing state of the toilet. All too soon, I had to unlock the door and get back into the car, letting Miles go into the shop to get some food for us. The new car was an SUV, and much more spacious so more comfortable. I presumed it had been left by another of my _uncles_ henchmen. I reminded myself to thank them later for the bigger car. Miles held my door as I settled in, giving me a warning look.

"Move anywhere, and I'll just track you down and it won't be pretty, got it?"

"Seriously, where am I gonna go? We're in the middle of nowhere!" I cried exasperatedly.

"Just making sure you know the consequences. Staying with me is your best option sweetheart!" Miles said gleefully slamming the door on me and locking it. I wanted some food, so thought it best to keep the guy happy. At least he hadn't tied my hands up or kept me hungry yet.

I sat staring out of the window at the mountains while I waited, mountains which reminded me of Victor. He had once told me the mountains would always be his home, which was a comforting thought. I liked to think he was with me in spirit, in the towering snow dusted peaks I was surrounded by, offering me strength and stability and power to get me through whatever was coming.

A few miles down from the petrol station, Miles pulled over to the side of the road. He hopped out, pulling something from the boot and bending down for a short time. As he moved around the front, I saw he was carrying number plates. Putting false ones on so we couldn't be tracked from the petrol station cctv.

I stayed awake as we drove for mile after mile through some stunning country side, heading for the state boundary between Montana and Idaho. With every mile that passed, I grew a little more hopeful that we were simply passing through this state to get to the border, and not making a house call. I nearly cried out with relief when we reached Idaho without stopping and briefly travelled across that state before entering Washington. I had no idea where we were heading, but I knew the biggest town was Seattle, so it was a good bet that was our destination.

Sure enough, several hours later we were approaching the imposing wall of glass and metal that was, Seattle. I grew up in London, and had experienced Denver for a short period, so I was no stranger to big cities. But Seattle blew me away. It was surrounded by water, and mountains and forests, and as we drove through I could see the famous Space Needle dominating the skyline. As we cruised through the streets, Miles was chattering away at me about Seattle – apparently it was his home town. I paid no attention, preferring to focus my gaze out of the tinted window as we negotiated the busy streets. Before long, my attention was grabbed by an increasing number of signs for Sea-Tac airport, worryingly.

"Sea-Tac?" I questioned, interrupting whatever nonsense Miles was currently spouting. He looked over at me, most likely surprised by the first words I had uttered for hours.

"You're very observant Miss Abdali." He said with a grin.

"Why are we going to Sea-Tac?" I persisted.

"To catch a ferry - why the hell do you think we're going to Sea-Tac huh?" Miles cried losing patience with me.

"Where are we going?" I whispered.

"Where are you going, you mean. Maybe Haseem will tell you, I don't know it's not my job to know. I was to deliver you to Sea-Tac by –"he glanced at his watch as he paused. "- ha. 20 minutes time. I'm ahead of schedule, Haseem will be pleased."

I stared across at him, stunned by his nonchalance.

"Well how am I supposed to fly? I haven't got my passport." I tried.

"Soraya, you'll soon learn something about your uncle. He's a very powerful and rich man. He can fly you anywhere he pleases. You don't think you're flying commercial do you?"

My heart sank. I had at least hoped there was a chance I could stay in the country, at least I would have a better chance of getting through this here. But now I knew there were no restrictions to where we could fly, I knew in my heart where we were going, the one place I hoped I'd never have to go ever again.

We drove straight to the private entrance of the airport, with Miles dealing with the security guards at the barriers. We were directed to a small private jet, with its door open and steps down. I didn't get out of the car when we stopped, waiting instead until Miles came round and opened my door for me.

"Well then. I suppose this is goodbye. I'd say it was nice knowing you, but you weren't exactly chatting for England sooo, yeh, have a nice flight!"

"I'm so glad we met, Miles." I say sarcastically, climbing out of the car and ignoring his helping hand. I looked to the plane, wondering whether to go onto it when a man dressed impeccably in a suit appeared at the top of the steps. The opposite of Miles, this man was all business when he spoke.

"Miss Abdali. This way please." He said with an arm out to signal me to board. I glanced around the airfield helplessly, coming up with no other option but to get on the plane and prepare myself for what was coming. My legs felt like lead as I trudged up the steps: one, two, three, four, five, six. Six steps to reach the top. 5 more to enter the plane. One look to take in the small number of men sat in the plush cream seats scattered around the small cabin. One look to identify my uncle.

"Soraya. How nice to finally meet my niece, my only niece!" Haseem was the spit of my father, which unnerved me. I might not get on with my parents, but I still loved them, even more after Victor had told me about their sacrifice to protect me. He approached me where I stood cowering in the doorway with his arms open wide, and immediately pulled me into a hug which felt all kinds of wrong. I kept my arms straight by my side, unprepared for this attack of affection. He pulled back to look at me, his hands clasping my upper arms.

"I do hope Miles wasn't too rough? It was never my intention to hurt you or scare you my darling, I just wanted you back where you belong, with family." His voice was thick with an Afghani accent, and his breath smelt too strongly of mint, unnaturally minty. He was being suspiciously nice, showering me with affection I didn't want. The last thing I needed was to find myself actually liking this man, although it probably would make things a lot easier since I hoped Victor would honour my request not to rescue me.

"I was with family." I managed to whisper.

"Now now Soraya. You and I both know the Benedicts weren't real family. They put up with you, because of your link with Victor. I'm your real family, and I intend to take good care of you." Haseem said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. Although I knew better than to listen to a word he said, I couldn't help the seed of doubt creeping into my mind – maybe he was right? "You must be tired, all that traveling. The chairs recline, they're almost as good as a bed! We have plenty of food, and even a shower, amazing what they can do with planes these days isn't it?" He nattered away animatedly as he lead me into a separate room, a bathroom. "Make yourself at home, you're not a captive here Soraya."

"Then let me go, please?" I pleaded, spinning around to give Haseem my best pitiful look.

"Oh Soraya you know I can't do that. You belong to us, you have done since the day you were born. It'll just take a little adjustment on your part. Besides –" he glanced over his shoulder. "- they've shut the doors now. We're just waiting for our slot then we'll be off. You have time to take a shower before we do."

"Where are we going?" I asked, already knowing the answer but refusing to accept it.

"Where do you think we're going Soraya?"

I nodded, as the tears started once again.

"Afghanistan." I sobbed.

 **Thanks for reading, please leave me some feedback in a review!**


	32. Chapter 31

**A.N: Heres the next chapter! I really hope you're enjoying it, it's difficult to know if it's actually as good as it seems in my head, I don't know if it's coming across how I want it to but for everyone who is reading it and enjoying it, thank you and I hope you keep doing so! This next chapter is for everyone who is enjoying my story!**

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I sank to the shower floor as the water trickled over my back. Trickled was even exaggerating. The shower was more of a dribble, which meant I was cold as sat there shivering and curled up wondering how things had got so bad. My uncle, Haseem, had been nothing but nice since I met him which confused me. But he was taking me back to the god forsaken country I had vowed never to let myself return to, and that alone was enough to make me hate him. I delved into his mind, not caring if he felt me or not, to see what I was up against. My searching led me to discover my uncle was a super learner, meaning he was able to absorb information at an advanced rate, on some occasions even instantly. This meant he was the perfect candidate for the program being run in Afghanistan, as he would be able to learn all the training and techniques at an immense speed. His gift also made him a good teacher, and so ideal for the program. This was how he had gained such stature within the Afghani savant circle, I realised. He was very valuable to them.

I extracted myself from the tiny shower cubicle and slowly dressed in the black leggings, and baggy grey jumper which had been left out for me. It was nice to get into some clean clothes after travelling for so many days. I left the bathroom as the captain announced over the tannoy system that we would be taking off shortly, meaning I needed to get into my seat. Haseem was sat with his back to me, with an empty seat opposite him which I deemed was for me. Hesitantly, I sat down in the vacant seat. My bag was dumped next to Haseem in the spare chair, my phone on the table between us.

"Ahh Soraya. Nice shower? Good good." He said as I nodded. He picked up my phone, holding it out to me. "Please be as kind as to shut this up. These Benedicts really are a pain in the backside."

I took the phone, seeing over 40 missed calls, not just from Victor but from his brothers and the girls too. It had been ringing almost the entire car journey here, but both Miles and I had chosen to ignore it. It broke my heart and terrified me to know they were still looking for me, still searching.

"Maybe a text would do it, I don't think you could speak convincingly enough and I need it to be convincing. Tell your boyfriend once and for all he's done, the constant ringing is annoying me." Haseem said in a bored manner.

I called up my text conversation with Victor, and stared longingly at his last text to me. I'd texted him when I'd arrived in Aspen, excitedly boasting about my successful driving. He'd replied, and it finished with 'love you baby x', making my heart ache for those happy, perfect times. I could almost hear his deep rich laugh as I enthused about my driving skills, a laugh I had whole heartedly fallen in love with. But that love had to go. I had to be strong, and keep him safe. I knew what I had to do, and I knew it would kill me to do it but I needed Victor to forget me. I tapped each key slowly and deliberately, writing out a devastatingly cruel message.

 ***Victor. I don't want you to find me. Don't look for me, don't come for me. I don't want to be saved. I'm with my family now, you were just a temporary fixture. I needed to feel loved, I needed a replacement family and yours worked. I don't need you anymore, and I don't love you. I never have. I'm not brainwashed, I'm not being influenced, this all my own thoughts and words. If you or your family come near me, I'll kill you and them myself. Bye, Victor. ***

The tears which seemed a constant feature over the past few days were falling thick and fast again. They blurred my vision, and created little puddles on my phone screen as they dropped. I could barely see where to press when I tried to send it, and my thumb was shaking violently as I did. I hoped with all my heart it was enough to make him stay put, and not look for me, enough to keep him safe. I looked up to see Haseem watching me intently, and nodding as I replaced the phone on the table. I knew Victor had read it immediately, he would be attached to his phone and it told me so underneath the message. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the screen as he began typing a reply. I both did and didn't want to know what he thought of me now.

The plane lurched as we began our taxi down the runway, and I waited for Victor's reply. It came just after we left the ground.

 ***you can say whatever you want to me Soraya, it won't stop me loving you. But I won't look for you, I won't come. I hope you have a nice life. ***

It was final and definite. He would always love me, I was his soulfinder after all. But I knew my subtle threat to his family would be enough to stop him. The one thing he loved as much as me was them, he wouldn't endanger them.

I couldn't help but feel a little hurt at how easily he dismissed me, how quickly he gave up on me. But I had to remind myself it was what I wanted. I had pushed him away.

"Well. I'm glad that's sorted. Cheer up sweetheart, you're going home!" Haseem said.

The look I wanted to direct at him probably wouldn't have gone down well, so I stared out the window instead. I stayed fixated on the fluffy clouds until an air hostess came bustling into the cabin pushing a trolley overflowing with an assortment of food and drinks a while later. I was starving, so dove into it as Haseem signalled to the others to wait their turn. I had wrappers and packets and bottles strewn across the table infront of me as I munched away, while Haseem sat watching me devour my food whilst nibbling on his own simple cheese and biscuits. After I had my fill, I pressed a button on the side of my chair and it immediately began to recline, becoming almost horizontal. The hostess came skipping back through, arms weighted down with a blanket and some pillows.

"Here you go Miss. Anything else I can do to make you more comfortable?" She asked kindly as I settled down with my bedding. I shook my head, thanking her quietly as sleep claimed me instantly.

In the hours that followed, I slept fitfully, drifting in and out of consciousness. I was aware sometimes of people bent down beside Haseem, taking quietly so as not to disturb me, but on other occasions it was deadly quiet in the cabin besides the loud thrumming of the planes engines. As I finally woke up properly, I looked out of the window to see an orange glow on the horizon - we'd been chasing the sun as we changed time zones and it was finally setting. I'd always heard flying west to east had a bigger jet lag effect, something else for me to look forward to when we landed. Haseem was quietly tapping away on his laptop when he noticed my awakened state, and he immediately snapped it shut smiling broadly at me.

"Good sleep sweetheart?" He purred, retrieving a bottle of sparkling water from the holder by his chair and taking a swig.

"Not really. I don't sleep well when I'm travelling." That was a lie. One of the last times I was on a plane I had slept as soundly as I remember ever doing against Victor's shoulder.

"Oh I am sorry to hear that. Don't worry, we'll be landing soon and you can get some proper sleep in a bed." I highly doubted that, but Haseem continued. "I have a very nice house in Kabul, you'd be more than welcome to stay there with me, or you can stay with the other participates if you'd rather?"

"Participates?" I said snapping my head up.

"Yes, in the program. No need to play dumb with me Soraya, after all your scheming with the Benedicts I have no doubt in my mind you know exactly what we've got going on in Afghanistan. I'll admit, you're a little older than we usually like, but none the less you've been promised to us before you even existed, so I'll be damned if I don't get you through that program."

My heart sank as I realised I was going to be trained to take down the Net, the organisation I had spent the last 6 years doing nothing but serve. The organisation I was loyal to.

"But I'm with the Net? What makes you think I'll turn my back on it?"

"I have every confidence you'll come round. Once you see what we do, how much stronger we can make you, you'll be a different person and you'll want to turn against the Net. You'll see what a weak organisation they really are, and how much more people like me can do for the savant world."

"I didn't really think world domination was your thing." I said snarkily.

"You have quite the mouth on you don't you Soraya? You get that from your father, he was always a little sarcastic." Haseem said thoughtfully, as he stroked his chin with his long fingers. "Not world domination Soraya, we'll start with just savant domination. We could be so much more as people if we had the right leadership, eventually _we_ could be the dominant species on the earth. Why not make the humans hide who they are? Why not let them be ashamed of their normality? We are the special ones, the more powerful ones, yet we hide it in fear of rebuke? We should be shouting it from the rooftops and rejoicing in it!"

"And taking down the Net would do that?" I cry desperately.

"The Net are the ones holding us back! You know more than anyone, the Net keeps the secret! They eliminate the rogues who threaten to spoil the peace, so yes taking them down would do that!"

"Most of the savant world are loyal to the Net. How are you going to convert them all to your way?"

"The same way we'll convert you. If we take down the biggest savant organisation in the world, that makes us the top dogs. We'll automatically assume command, and then we'll start converting the savants of the world one by one."

"And what about the ones who won't?" I said quietly, fearing the answer.

"You mean the people like the Benedicts? Well we'll just kill them."

 **I hope you liked this chapter, I feel it explains quite a lot about the situation and leads on nicely for the rest of the story. Let me know what you think!**


	33. Chapter 32

**A.N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! Next chapters here, I hope you like it! Let me know, please!**

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I stared as we dropped below what little cloud cover there was, as the vast expanse of Afghani desert came into view. It felt like I was dropping back into hell, and all the memories I had worked on transforming with Uriel and Tarryn were seeping back to me in original form. My uncle sat opposite me, quietly basking in the glory of successfully returning me to Afghanistan. There was no smooth landing – we landed hard and bumped harshly along the rough dirt runway. There was no Tarmac here, no smooth surface to ease me back into this hell hole.

I was bustled off the plane straight into a waiting car. Haseem jumped in next to me, while his men piled into a car behind us to start our procession through the packed streets and alleyways of Kabul. It was the biggest city in Afghanistan I knew, but even then it was nothing in comparison to the three cities I had visited in the past week. London, Denver and Seattle were modern, sophisticated and were built upwards, as well as out. Kabul was again, surrounded by impressive mountains, as it was built in a valley along a river between two peaks. The majority of the houses were shacks, with a few more impressive buildings dotting the streets. We drove through the centre of the city, passing into one of the more affluent neighbourhoods in the suburbs, as of yet untouched by the raging war. While the areas we had been driving through were mainly devoid of greenery and trees, the properties here were teeming with leafy plants and grass lawns and colourful flowers, including the house we pulled up outside. It was a very large, white building with a flat roof and a rectangular fountain in the forecourt, surrounded by a tall wall and security gate. As grand as it was in this country, it definitely belonged in Afghanistan and would have looked out of place anywhere else. The driver keyed in the code, and pulling through the gates I saw an impressive display of flowers adorning the flowerbeds dotted around. I could see at least 3 sprinklers on the go, feeding this bubble of life in the vast desert. The house was heavily air conditioned to overcome the stifling heat outside, and it was very bright and airy, with white everything. Evidently, my uncle was a very rich man who probably contributed to half of the city's water usage alone.

"Well. Welcome to my home Soraya!" Haseem said as he stood in the elaborate entrance hall, his arms outstretched, with an imposing wrought iron staircase behind him leading to a gallery overlooking this entrance way. "You will of course, make yourself at home. It is yours now as well as mine."

I wandered in a circle, looking through the archways into various rooms while Haseem studied my reaction.

"It's … Very nice?" I offered, not quite sure what he was looking for. It seemed to satisfy him, as he smiled and held a hand out for me to follow him.

"Shall we go and see your room? You can have the east wing, a nice room at the back. It overlooks the river you know?" He said, leading me up the stairs and half turning to talk to me.

"Sounds idyllic." I muttered sarcastically so he couldn't hear me.

"Hmm?" He paused briefly on the stairs, hand on the railing to see what I had said.

"Oh nothing. I was just saying how lovely that will be!" I smiled sweetly up at him.

"Ahh. Well yes, I aim to please!" He set off again, chuckling to himself.

My room was in fact, extremely nice. It had a huge opening where glass doors usually sat closed, with white gossamer curtains blowing in the slight breeze coming through the doors. Past the doors lay a long narrow balcony with, as promised, views of the river, desert and the mountains beyond that. A long green garden with an azure swimming pool stuck out in the desert, stretching from the house down to the river with high hedges on either side sealing us off from neighbouring houses. There was a very big white bed, again with more gossamer drapings to protect from the mosquitoes at night. I even had an ensuite.

"I hope this will be up to standard?" Haseem asked from where he stood in the doorway. I was stood fingering the filmy white drapes around the bed absently, so merely nodded. "Very good. I'll leave you to settle in and freshen up, there's towels and clothes in the dresser, if you're hungry my chef will make you something to eat afterwards."

I walked out onto the balcony to observe my surroundings when Haseem left. Even at this time of night, with the sun setting behind the mountains the heat still hit me as I stepped out. It would soon drop to a colder temperature, this I knew from my previous time in Afghanistan. I could see figures patrolling the garden outside as I leant over the barrier, guards I presumed. Keeping the war out, or me in though? Either way, I wasn't escaping any time soon which explained my uncles willingness to leave me on my own. Sighing, I rested my forearms on the railings as I leant down watching the sun sink beneath the mountains and feeling my heart sink with it. It dawned on me, I didn't have a lot of options. I was stuck here, with no escape since I had told the Benedicts to forget me. I became overcome with one thought, which I couldn't shake. Why should I fight it? I had no choice, no allies for the time being, and if I didn't conform I'd more than likely be killed. Seemed like a no brainer really.

When I went down the steps half an hour later, I was in a completely different mindset. I'd spend the last six years of my life with no family except my work family, and here was an uncle ready to actually be an uncle, albeit one who wanted to turn me into a killing machine. I breezed into the kitchen wearing a white tank top with light brown knitted cardigan and white leggings. I padded along the floor in my bare feet, enjoying the feel of the cool tiles which ran throughout all of the house.

"Hi." I said easily, to gain my uncles attention. He turned around in his chair at the breakfast bar, eyeing my attire.

"Ahh, I see you've found your wardrobe. How are you settling in?" Haseem said.

"Yeh, it'll take a while but I'm coming round." I said truthfully, looking him in the eye as I did.

"See. You're being converted already. Are you hungry?" He snapped his fingers and a chef instantly appeared, whom he had a conversation in Dari with. He exited as I replied.

"Well you've not left me with much option to be honest. I'm just making the most of what I've got now."

"I like your attitude. Very similar to myself I might add." He reached across the table, shuffling paper until he had found what he was looking for. "So on that note, we should discuss your training. We'll be starting immediately, I expect you up tomorrow to leave at 6am for a run – I will accompany you to begin with. After that your training will commence. We've devised an individual schedule for you here."

I took the piece of paper he was holding out for me and studied it closely. I was running every morning and some nights, in the cooler hours of the day. The rest consisted of a mix of theory and practical classes, but mainly training for me.

"It's very full on isn't it… And I have private lessons with you?" I asked glancing up from the paper.

"Yes. You are, obviously, behind on training and so it would be unfair to throw you straight into the program with the other participants. Therefore you will be enrolled part time, and train with me for the remainder of the week."

"Sure you're up to it?" I joked.

"I'll have you know, I was a top participant in my time and am still heavily involved in the training of the other students." He said leaning in towards me smirking. "I think it's you we should be questioning."

I laughed easily, letting myself relax slightly.

"I suggest you try and get some sleep Soraya after we've eaten. Like I said, 6am – I want to get an idea of your level off fitness." Haseem said.

"My fitness, is about here." I groan, leaning down and showing a level about a foot off the ground with my hand.

"It won't be soon. Soon, you'll be in the prime of your fitness, in peak condition. We focus on the physical side of things here, training you to fight and take on savants, especially savants with strong gifts who can use them against you. So we work on your developing your own talents as well. We both know the Net is full of powerful savants. The way we see it, there are no definitive limitations to our gifts. They are only limited by the reaches of our imaginations. So if you can dream it up, you can do it."

His words hit deep, and for the first time since I arrived here I began to see things from their point of view. Savants were gifted, and we were powerful. Why are we the inferior ones?

"So if there's no limitations, what could I do?" I asked, truly interested.

"Like I said. Imagination is a powerful tool. But that's another lesson, part of the program. I'll help you broaden your mind in our privates, but there's only so much the teachers can do. It's up to the individual at the end of the day."

I was still pondering his words when I wandered up the stairs to my bedroom after eating, to attempt to sleep. If this was how they planned to convert people, to bombard them with meaningful words and the feeling of inferiority, then it was probably going to work, if they could reach enough people. There were a lot of flaws in their master plan, and I was still far from being converted yet. My body was running behind, meaning I wasn't feeling the tiredness I should be for that time of night. It would be problematic however as I had to be up for my 6am run. If I didn't sleep it would be even worse – while I was not unaccustomed to running, it wasn't a routine thing for me and I wasn't very good at it. I almost didn't want to admit it to myself but I was actually looking forward to the physical training as I had always wanted to be slightly more fitter and toned in that sense. Maybe I'd look better next to Victor if I was?

I wanted to kick myself as soon as that thought entered my head. Victor was the past, I had moved on and would never see him again. Frustratedly, I tugged my clothes off slinging them in a pile on the floor and pulled on the thin white cotton nighty I had picked out to sleep in. I flopped into bed, immediately feeling his absence. I turned onto my side, trying to find a place where I didn't notice how empty the bed was so much, but to no avail. I wasn't tired, I was in an unfamiliar bed, and there was a huge Victor shaped emptiness. By the time quarter to 6 rolled around, I'd probably had a grand total of 2 hours of broken sleep. Not enough to be getting up for a god knows how long a run. None the less, I did manage to drag myself out of bed to pull a pair of running tights and a tank top from the wardrobe and a brand new pair of running shoes. I blearily braided my hair, not paying attention to how messily I was doing it. I had just enough time to get downstairs and grab some pre-prepared fruit salad from the fridge when Haseem entered, looking like a personal trainer extraordinaire. I gawped at him, spoonful of fruit frozen halfway to my mouth. He was wearing knee length shorts, and a tight white shirt which stretched over largish, well defined muscles. His suit yesterday had hidden them, but now I was able to see how toned my uncle really was. He was obviously in peak physical condition, something I put down to this training program.

"Something wrong Soraya?" He asked, grabbing his own piece of fruit.

I shook my head quickly, refocusing on my breakfast.

"Good. Then you'll be ready to leave in 5?"

I nodded, still without the ability to speak much to Haseem's amusement.

Sure enough, five minutes later I was stood in the forecourt stretching as per Haseem's instructions. The sun was creeping up in the sky, but had not yet gathered enough power to turn Kabul into a furnace yet, hence the early rise for our run. Haseem led us through the opened double gates and set off down the pavement at a brisk jog, with me attempting to keep up. We followed a route through the neighbourhood, not straying too far into the heart of the city. Our route climbed up through the hills before we dropped down to run along side the river to return to the house. As we climbed up, I felt a horrific stitch developing and had to call for a break. I sat on a handy rock, dripping with sweat and wheezing as I tried to catch my breath. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this.

"Are you ok?" My uncle asked kindly crouching down beside me, barely out of breath himself. I held up a finger, indicating once again, my inability to talk at present. He chuckled, before standing back up and jogging on the spot. "You've actually done far better than I expected. We're over halfway and that was uphill for a long stretch." He said evenly, despite his continuous jogging. I looked up at him, pleasantly surprised with myself. With a sudden renewed vigour, I jumped up and began pounding down the path, leaving Haseem in my wake. Of course he soon overtook me, fortunately though as I didn't know the way.

By the time we'd returned to the house, my entire body was covered in a sweaty sheen and I was beginning to feel the heat from the ever rising sun, so was very thankful to get back into the air conditioned house. It was after 7am and I was looking forward to jumping in my shower, when Haseem called out.

"Well done there Soraya. Good start. We'll head down to the centre as soon as you're changed and had something more to eat." He began to walk into the kitchen when I stopped him.

"Wait! What for?"

"For your privates of course? You don't think that's all we're doing today did you?" I stared incredulously at his disappearing back as I slid down to sit on the step I was heading up. Apparently this was more full on than I had thought.


	34. Chapter 33

**A.N: Sorry this took a bit longer than usual to upload, but here it is! I really hope you like it, let me know please! Thanks for all the feedback so far, keep it coming!**

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I crashed into the mat for the umpteenth time, landing on my bottom and flailing around as I felt pain lancing through my body.

"Come on Soraya. I told you how to take a fall!" Haseem called frustratedly. "It wouldn't have been as painful if you'd landed on your upper back, and you'd have been better set to get up out of it."

"Is this really necessary? You don't honestly think everyone at the Net has specific training like this do you?" I muttered through gritted teeth as I pulled my bruised and battered body up off the floor. We'd only been practising for a few hours, with Haseem going over the hand to hand combat basics with me such as how to take a fall when someone dumps you on your arse. We hadn't moved on any further. Seemingly my lack of ability to fall correctly was frustrating to my super learner of an uncle.

"No I don't think they all have this extent of training. What I do think is that if you do, you'll be much better set when you come up against those who don't. They'll have powerful gifts, to use against you so you have to have the advantage somewhere. Now arms up, like I showed you, and this time land on your upper back, roll your hips into it and for heavens sake keep your chin tucked down." Haseem came at me, arms up and I braced, ready for the hit. He jabbed at the side of my body, causing me to cry out and instinctively curl up around the site of the pain. Hence why I was now lying in a ball on my side, instead of landing on my upper back as instructed. Cursing, I scrabbled to jump back up quickly but Haseem was quicker, hauling me onto my back and jamming a foot against my throat. He removed it the second he'd made his point, but the damage was done. I flopped back onto the mat, admitting defeat. I was useless, and I wouldn't never be able to catch up. I threw an arm over my face to hide the pain I could no longer disguise. I felt a gentle hand on my arm, pulling it off.

"You're not useless Soraya. This is your first time, give yourself some slack." Haseem said quietly as he knelt beside me. "I might be an amazing learner, but I can also teach other pretty well and I know what it's like. I've seen countless participants go through the helplessness they feel when they first set out, just like you." He looked at me sympathetically. "I think you've had enough for today, come on. Ice bath and some stretches will help ease those aching muscles." He offered a hand to me which I gratefully took, wincing slightly as my muscles tensed to propel myself off the floor.

After the car ride home, my muscles had stiffened and I hobbled out of the car and into the house like a ninety year old, clutching at my side as I reached the bottom of the steps. I used both hands on the bannister to pull myself up and into my bathroom, where there was a ready and waiting tub filled with floating ice cubes. I eyed it it skeptically, not particularly wanting to throw myself into it when I knew I wouldn't be able to get out quickly. I was debating whether I actually wanted to submit myself to the torture when I heard my uncle calling.

"Ahh there you are sweet Soraya. Not plucked up the courage yet?" He said eyeing the bath when I met him in my room. "I assure you, it'll help. And just like everything else, after enough times it'll be easier, your body will get used to it."

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to this." I said, massaging my aching neck as I stretched it from side to side.

"You will. Your body just needs to adjust, muscle memory plays a part. The hits and falls won't hurt as much and you'll bruise less easily." He went over to the chair in the corner of the room and perched down on the edge, inviting me to sit in the bed near him. "You've got it hard, the younger you start the better - our bodies are more susceptible to be molded into what we need them to be at that age. Don't worry, we'll build up your training and make sure that you have enough recovery periods so you can progress sufficiently." Haseem said as he got up, pausing in the doorway to give me one last instruction. "Do the stretches I showed you, and get in that bath now, before its too late Soraya!"

Sighing, I dragged myself up and slipped into my dressing gown to head to the bathroom.

Getting into that bath was like stabbing my body with a thousand needles all at the same time. It was agony, I could feel every single muscle tense as the water lapped over me, the ice cubes jangling and congregating at the sides of the bath. A few minutes of agony later, I extracted my frozen body from the water and wrapped up in my gown again. I sat out on my balcony soaking up the suns rays to reheat my chilled body. My mind ran over the events of the day, wondering if I could really do this. Day one and I was ready to quit, I obviously wasn't the ideal candidate for their program. The more I thought about it the more I found their whole set up here ridiculous. Like they'd ever be able to take down the Net. They could train every young savant in the world and they'd still struggle. Still, what choice did I have. I went back inside to study my timetable for the next day, seeing yet again I was running with my uncle at 6am. At least I was suitably tired tonight, I would sleep like the dead. After my run, I was scheduled for firearms training with a group of other participants. I'd already had firearms training, it was compulsory for working at the Net, or at least the branch I worked for. At least I wouldn't completely suck at something and my battered body would have chance to recover before round two.

After getting dressed, I wandered through the house exploring. It was huge, rooms seemed to spring up everywhere. I soon came across my uncle hiding out in his office, surrounded by books and files.

"Aah Soraya!" Haseem called as he saw me pass the doorway. "Do come in, I wanted to show you something."

Backtracking, I headed into the study as far as the desk my uncle occupied. I could see various papers strewn across it, and couldn't help nosing. They were files on various members of the Net, files the Net had very well protected. Picking one up, I skimmed over it before looking up at my uncle.

"How did you get these?" I demanded. "These have all sorts of protections on them, firewalls, passwords, savant prevention methods. Yves Benedict himself puts protections on them!" Yves was a computer genius, he had made his millions developing security software for Apple.

"Now now Soraya. That would be telling. Just know we have our ways. How do you think we found out about you?" Haseem said, extending his hand in the direction of a tonne more files, presumably all on the members of the Net. "They're very handy. We know everything there is to know about the Net members, everything except the most important and useful thing to us." He looked at me, as if waiting for me to answer. After a few seconds, it was evident we were both waiting for each other to speak, so giving a sigh Haseem carried on. "Their gifts, Soraya. It doesn't tell us their gifts. Understandable really, not many savants would willingly reveal their secret weapons to put on a database. But that's where you come in."

"Me?" I said astounded.

"Yes, you can tell us their gifts. Firstly, we want to know all about the Benedicts, but ultimately you can fill in the gaps on all these files and reveal the most valuable piece of information for us."

"But I can only read people's gifts if I'm with them, if I can enter their head." I said, shaking my own head. Haseem leaned forward propping his elbows on the desk and laced his fingers together.

"Remember when I told you our gifts are only limited by the reaches of our imagination? You have it set in your head that this is what your gift does and that's it. Well this is us blurring those limits, and broadening your imagination. I have every faith you'll be able to give us what we need, you just need to concentrate." He said excitedly.

"How do I do it?" I whispered.

"Start with this one." He picked up a random profile from the desk and passed me it. Levi Summers, I didn't know of him at all. "No one knows your gift better than you, it's yours, you control it. But try and visualise it, what do you see when you enter someone's mind, how does your gift manifest itself to you?"

I hesitated, considering his question.

"I see, their light. Sort of like seeking out someone's spark when you look to speak to them telepathically." I said thoughtfully. "But it's different. It's so much more, more vibrant, more complex. Like it's their whole soul. It's their gift, part of them, that's why no shield can keep me out. And then I read information from their light, like reading a book."

"Like a book? That's good, a visual is better to work from. I want you to study the picture there." He nodded to the photo of Levi Summers. "I want you to study it until he comes to life in your mind. It's down to your imagination." Haseem said as I opened my mouth to complain. "Try it. Bring him to life, use the picture. If it helps, read the background information about him. Anything that helps you visualise a real person with a mind you can enter and read."

Sighing frustratedly, I humoured my uncle and stared at the picture of Levi until my eyes were boring holes into it. As I stared, I began to see a shimmer of a light forming, very faintly on the picture. Spurred on by the change, brick by brick, I built Levi Summers a life in my mind. He had a soulfinder, and three children I read in his profile, so I put him in his back garden, playing with his sons as his wife watched on balancing a little girl on her hip. I closed my eyes in concentration, putting myself into the garden as a bystander. Nobody saw me, this was my imagined world and I didn't want to be seen. I felt out with my gift, latching onto Levi's light and slowly entering his mind.

When I opened my eyes I was back in my uncles office, being watched intensely by Haseem.

"He's an empath. He can read and influence the emotions of others."

My uncles eyes lit up as I spoke, proving his experiment had been successful.

"How was that even possible?" I ask in bewilderment. "I read him as easily as if he was sat right next to me, and I've never even met him!"

"You brought him to life. In your mind, you had met him, you put yourself into his life, so effectively, you met the man you believe him to be. I told you there are no limitations! This is incredible!" Haseem began scribbling down on Levi Summers profile as he spoke. "Can you do the others? I thought you'd need practise before you could give us answers!" He said excitedly, glancing up at me.

I spent the afternoon creating scenarios for complete strangers, and delving into their minds to uncover their gifts. With every one I did, the procedure became easier and I found myself needing to concentrate less and less with each one. Haseem sat with me the whole time, excitedly writing down notes on each of the files as I delivered the information. Occasionally, I would come across a name I recognised and would feel a pang of guilt for betraying the Net like this. But I told myself I wasn't doing any harm – plenty of savants out there knew each other's gifts, it made no difference. It wasn't until I came across Diamond Benedict's profile, it really hit me as wrong what I was doing. I stared at her friendly familiar face, feeling myself fill with remorse and sorrow. I'd grown close to Diamond, and here I was about to spill the dirt on her.

"Are you having trouble with this one Soraya?" My uncle questioned, snapping me out of my daze.

"N...no. I don't need to do it, I know all about her." I said putting the page down on the desk so my uncle could see the name. He spun it around so it was facing him, before looking up at me monitoring my reaction.

"Well?" He prompted after a minute or so.

"She's…. A peacemaker. One of the best at resolving any argument or dispute. The Net swear by her." I said quietly and reluctantly. Haseem scribbled the information down, and went to move the page aside to get on to the next one when I stopped him.

"Wait. They're not that up to date these profiles, are they?"

"No, we can't keep on top of them all, it takes a lot of time for us to hack in to get these files so we don't do it often. Is there something more we should know?" I nodded sadly.

"And?"

"Shes five months pregnant. With a boy." I whisper.

"Hmm. Interesting. These things are always useful to know. With her soulfinder, Trace Benedict I presume?" Haseem asks. Again, I nod. This was the ultimate treachery, the final stab in the back which cemented my betrayal of the Benedicts. Even if by some miracle I got out of here and was reunited with them, they'd never look at me the same again. They'd never trust me again. This time, the tears I was expecting didn't even come.


	35. Chapter 34

It was easy to forget I was in the middle of a war zone when I was in this luxurious house. I'd asked my uncle once, why we never heard any gunfire. He told me it was because he'd had the entire house soundproofed, and reinforced with bulletproof glass and steel frames when the war had broken out. He reassured me the fight couldn't reach us here – we had 24/7 guards and other precautions in place too. Savant precautions, I presumed.

Resolving to be unfazed by the raging war on my doorstep, I threw myself into training. When I went running, I stopped thinking if I could go much further without dying. Instead I ran as hard as I could for as long as I could, not wondering if my body could deal with it but forcing it to deal. When I practised my shooting, I stopped telling myself I couldn't ever use the gun in a real situation and focused instead on firing as straight and true a possible, so when it came down to it, I could hit my target no matter what it was. I took to working through the files in my uncles office in my spare time, unearthing the gifts of every single savant the Net had on file. There were hundreds, but some I already knew. Like the Benedicts and the people I worked with at the Net. I couldn't bring myself to create a world for any of the Benedicts anyway, I would be too tempted to put myself into it as a permanent feature. It was the only time I ever thought of them though, when I stumbled across one of their profiles.

During my private hand to hand combat lessons with Haseem, I worked harder than I thought possible. Hour after hour we would slave away, pushing my body to the brink and then some. Today, Haseem had left a message saying he wouldn't be able to attend training, so I was to practise my technique on one of the dummies in the gym. I headed into the gym almost straight after my run, wanting to get on with my work. As I pulled my hair back into a pony tail, I studied the dummy sat infront of me. It was slightly taller than me, and set on a spring so it coiled away after a hit and sprung back at you as if in a real fight. Getting down to it, I hit out at the biggest target, the chest. I threw punch after punch, alternating between left and right jabs and always bringing my arms back infront of me to protect myself. Haseem had trained me to aim for only four different areas on the body – the stomach, neck, heart or solar plexus. All of these areas on the dummy wore telltale signs of repetitive hits being delivered to them, cuts and indents and cracks. I kept on my toes, adding in the occasional dodge to the side or duck as the dummy came bouncing menacingly back towards me, before I struck again. I was completely absorbed in the fight, oblivious to anything else around me. Sweat poured off my body, drenching my clothes and sticking the loose strands of hair from my ponytail to the back of my neck. As I reached the peak of my bout, I gave a shriek as I dropped my upper body and spun around on the ball of foot to deliver a whacking kick to the chest of the dummy, throwing it back a good foot at least. I leant over resting my hands on my thighs, panting as I let the dummy pendulum backwards and forwards as it stilled.

"That was perfect form." A voice came from the doorway. I spun around to see a young man around my age stood leaning against the door frame in a model like pose, with no shirt on and a towel wrapped around his shoulders. He was very muscular, and slightly taller than me. "Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you. I couldn't help notice your practise. It was good technique." His voice was like velvet, and reminded me of Victor's despite the Afghani accent.

"Do I know you?" I asked, harsher than I intended.

"Forgive me." He placed his hand on his chest. "I am Razi. I work for your uncle Haseem, I stay here with him. You won't have seen me around, I've been away on business for him."

"Oh. Well, I'm Soraya." I said more kindly.

"I know who you are." Razi replied with a small smile. He exuded a calm aura, of friendliness and kindness. There was an edge to him, that made me feel he was dangerous when he wanted to be, but he had a warm presence which was appealing and made me feel drawn to him. Slowly, Razi pushed off the doorframe and came into the room. He pulled the towel from around his neck and draped it on the back of a chair.

"Let's see how you do against an opponent that actually fights back, shall we?" He said smiling at me.

I smiled back, coming into the centre of the room and taking up stance how I'd learnt. Across from me, Razi mirrored my movement. I was distracted by his rippling muscles which bunched as he brought his arms up, so much so I nearly missed his first jab. I dodged to the side just in time, as Razi cocked an eyebrow at me, still smiling.

"Dodging isn't the aim of this Soraya. Dodging isn't going to take down an opponent." Razi reminded me.

Shaking my head to clear it I refocused. We circled round, each watching and waiting for the other to make a move, or let their guard down. He made the first move. His long arm extended towards my neck, which I blocked with broad side of my own arm. I swung out immediately with my other, aiming to land a blow on his stomach, but it never got close. Razi read it like a book, and knocked my arm effortlessly away before punching my side. I recoiled in pain, but managed to remain standing as we faced off again. We went at it for round after round, until I was knocked off balance and found myself caught between two strong hands which wrapped around my upper arms, balancing me.

"You need to watch Soraya. There's always something, always a hint that gives the next move away. It might just be a twitch of a muscle or, a little glance, just something. There's always a clue." He said bringing his head down to my level as he spoke calmly, looking me in the eye while he held my arms. I nodded, and pulled away as we went for it again. I began to see what he meant, and why he was reading me so easily. I looked at the exact place I was going to strike before I did, which was enough for anyone with a modicum of close combat knowledge to counter against. But this in turn led me to spot Razi's flaws – his muscles tensed ever so slightly before he moved. Just a fine tremor, but it was something, although he was more practised at hiding them. I was beginning to get a grasp on his movements when I saw his eyes drop to my waist, a fraction of a second too late. I spun to counter the kick I knew was coming with my own, twisting at the waist to drop but I was too slow, exposing my back for Razi's foot to connect with. I was propelled backwards by the force of the kick, and slid across the floor yelping with pain. I tried to scramble around and was preparing for the next wave of attack before I noticed Razi hadn't followed up on his kick. He was still stood at the same spot we'd been sparring on. Giving me a breather, I realised. I prised myself off the floor as he came over, offering me a hand.

"Are you ok? That was a little harder than intended. Forgive me." He smiled again, a smile that dazzled me each and every time.

"Yeh, I'm ok." I winced as I massaged my back. "Think I'll live!" I looked up into deep, rich coffee coloured eyes that were filled with concern. Drawing back and laughing, he went back into the middle of the room.

"If it's any consolation, you nearly got it that time. You saw my intention, if you'd been that fraction quicker, well, I don't really want to go into what would have happened. It's not good for my ego!" Razi called nervously.

"Maybe it would have done your ego some good." I replied as I went back into stance, preparing to kick his ass.

"My ego….will be just fine…..with me staying…..on my feet…..thank you." He bantered as we exchanged hits, still all the time grinning and staying in control. I managed to get the occasional jab through his block, but the majority of the time I ended up hitting at fresh air. I pulled back, I knew getting too close and ahead of myself presented too much of a target. It caught Razi unaware – he was expecting an attack not a retreat. I thought quickly and feigned a jab at his neck, drawing his guard up before I delivered a thumping kick to his stomach. He staggered a few paces back, but recovered quickly as I went in for another hit. He grabbed my arm, twisting it up behind my back as I cried out in pain, and brought his other arm around my neck in a savage choke-hold, rendering me completely helpless. He held me there for what seemed an age, the sweat running down both of our bodies mingling together as we stood. He must have felt my heart hammering against my heaving chest, and I felt his hot breaths on my neck.

"Nearly gave that ego of mine a bruise there Miss Abdali." He breathed, followed by a nervous laugh.

"Yes indeed she did!" Razi released me and we both spun around to see my uncle stood in the doorway. "Well done sweet Soraya, you've improved to no end. Razi is one of, if not our best, you've done well to even get a hit in against him." Haseem looked at me, glowing with pride. I dropped my head, embarrassed by the praise. "You can finish off on the treadmill, some light jogging to cool your muscles down." Haseem finished.

I nodded, retrieving my water with a glance at Razi as I went into the next room. Through the glass wall separating the two rooms of the gym, I saw Haseem approach Razi and pull him into a fatherly hug, before drawing back to have a short conversation with each other. Glances were thrown in my direction, presumably as they were discussing me. I ignored them, instead jumping on the treadmill furthest from the window and setting off. I hadn't been jogging long, when a hand reached across and turned the speed down, to one of the lowest settings. I looked up incredulously at a smiling Razi, who turned his own neighbouring treadmill on at a much higher speed.

"You're cooling down, not working out. Nothing higher than number three." He murmured. I looked around the small gym, seeing at least another two vacant treadmills which he could have occupied instead of the only one beside me. I liked to work alone in the gym, I hated feeling like someone was watching me. Rolling my eyes, I focused on the display of the machine, watching the distance counter slowly tick up.

"Haseem told me about you working through the Net profiles, learning all their gifts. It's very interesting, what you do." Razi said, looking straight ahead. "Can you see my gift?"

I looked across at him, running about ten times my speed and barely breathing.

"I could. If I wasn't busy." I replied straight faced.

"You mean you're not up for a little multitasking? I thought it was a woman's speciality." He said chuckling.

"I've never really been down with stereotyping."

"Haseem also mentioned you have quite the mouth on you."

"Was there anything Haseem didn't tell you, or would you like me to fill in the blanks?" I said stopping my treadmill and turning to face him.

"I apologise. I was just making conversation." Razi looked genuinely hurt.

"No, I'm sorry. I don't like talking when I'm working out. That's all." I got off the treadmill and made to leave the room, before stopping, feeling I should probably try to make amends. I felt out for Razi's light and found it as easily as breathing.

"You son of a bitch!" I exploded.

Razi's stride broke as I called out, and he jumped onto the sides of the treadmill so as not to fall and looked around at me, bewildered.

"You cheater!" I yelled as I marched towards him, hands planted on my hips.

"If you would like to inform me what exactly I cheated at, that would be nice!" He said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"When we were practising, your gift! You cheated, you must have!"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I don't see it as cheating now, it's just part of my approach to close combat, part of my tactics. Forgive me." Razi said apologetically placing a hand on his chest as he spoke. "I don't even realise I'm reading thoughts now, it's just natural."

"Well I still say being a mind reader is an unfair advantage. Next time, I'll be shielding." I said angrily before flouncing out of the room dramatically.

 **Ok, I'm not entirely sure if a lot of people are enjoying this, so I really would like some feedback. I just want to know if people are liking the storyline and interested to see where it's going. But, in response to InkStainedHand's question, will Victor be back, if you want to find out you'll have to keep reading!**

 **I'm gonna wait for some words from you guys before the next chapter goes up!**


	36. Chapter 35

**A.N: Thanks for all the reviews, InkStainedHand, sevenofdiamonds7, and the guests. I do appreciate them so keep them coming! The next few chapters are just building up to something, keep reading to find out what!**

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That night, I wandered into the kitchen for dinner to find Razi seated at the table chatting with my uncle. Both looked up as entered, Razi's eyes following me as I drew a chair out. I'd slipped on a floaty white cotton top, and some shorts after my hugely enjoyable shower earlier. I'd quickly learnt loose, or white coloured clothing was a good idea here – any other colour absorbed too much heat and tight clothes didn't agree with sweat. I offered Razi a smile, an apology for the way I spoke to him before.

"Sorry, for earlier. I was cranky, tired. I'm not usually such a bitch." I tried to say lightheartedly.

"Don't worry about it." He said, glancing down shyly before giving me one of his gorgeous smiles.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" My uncle asked kindly. "Your body seems to be adapting well, you're less achy?"

"Mmm, definitely." I said swallowing the mouthful of water I had just taken. "It doesn't really bother me now, I just work off the stiffness the next day."

"Yes, that's good. We might send you out on an op soon, give you some field experience. And you're getting through all the Net profiles I see. It's brilliant, we can start work on planning the first stage as soon as she's done." Haseem said in a side note to Razi, dropping his voice slightly. "I want you to get the others ready, polish everyone up, refresh them on the basics. We need everyone spot on before we do anything." Razi nodded in agreement, leaning in close. I watched on, trying to get the meaning behind their words.

"What about Soraya?" Razi muttered.

Both raised their heads from where they were bent together to look at my questioning expression.

"She's not ready. We'll keep working her, today was good but she needs more time. I'd like you to take over some of her privates too, she responded well for you today." Razi nodded in agreement.

"She is here!" I snapped, fed up of being talked about. The two scheming men drew apart, wearing matching apologetic expressions.

"Sorry sweetheart. I'm used to discussing these things with Razi over dinner, I didn't think." Haseem said. "Would you be alright with Razi taking some of your privates?"

"Well I suppose. I don't really have a choice, do I?" I replied bitterly.

"You do have a choice. But I really think Razi could help you. Do you agree?" Haseem persisted.

"Yes." I mumbled, slumping in my chair and crossing my arms like a little child.

"I'll not take that reluctance personally Soraya." Razi smiled at me. "May I join you on your run tomorrow morning?"

I nodded, welcoming the company on my morning run. Whenever I strayed far from the house I felt more at risk.

"Finally she accepts your company without dispute!" Haseem joked, laughing with Razi. The two spent the entire dinner joking together and discussing matters not concerning me. It became very clear that Razi was a very trusted member of Haseem's circle, as I watched their interaction. I was yet to be introduced to the 'big boss', I wasn't highly regarded enough to have that privilege yet. But according to Haseem, my work on the Net profiles was fundamental, and would earn me the opportunity. Haseem and Razi were obviously highly ranked in the boss' opinion, as they were heavily involved in the planning of something.

The next morning, I was woken by a rapping on my door, just after half past five. Groaning, I rolled out of bed and went about my normal morning routine. I had it down to a fine art – it was timed to the last second so I was dressed, fed and stretched by exactly 6am. Why, Razi had therefore woken me at this ungodly hour was a mystery to me. He was stretching in the forecourt when I arrived, very ahead of my normal schedule.

"I appreciate the wake up call but it was a little early." I said dryly as I approached Razi. He looked up, grinning again.

"Forgive me. I'll remember next time." He replied, his eyes following me as I began my stretches. I had taken to wearing a tank top and there quarter length running tights to go out in, to combat the searing heat. I had muscled out since beginning training, even I had to admit I looked good in it. Couldn't blame the boy for looking. I just wasn't looking for, that. I noticed Razi was sporting a small backpack over his tank top, with a couple of water bottles on either side. He spotted me looking, and straightened up to explain as I finished my stretches.

"I thought we'd go up into the mountains today, we can run up, doing some training up there and run back down. Make a day of it, if the idea of spending a whole day with me doesn't disgust you too much?"

I laughed despite my less than cheerful mood, looking up to a face also full of laughter.

"Sounds good to me!" I felt I needed to make up for my less than friendly attitude towards him so far. Today was my opportunity.

We set off, with Razi leading the way and setting the pace. We pounded along the pavement, for the first time heading into the heart of the city. Despite the early timing of our run, the streets were already bustling with life as people set up for the market. We weaved through children playing and carts pulled by donkeys as Razi led us on a route through through the alleys and out of the other side of the city. From there, we took a goat herders path up towards one of the peaks. It was no more than a dusty single file track which wound its way up the side of the mountain in a series of hairpin turns. The footing was very loose, and I found myself slipping several times while the sure footed Razi, apparently very used to these paths, ambled up with no issues.

We paused briefly halfway up, for a water break and already the sun was beating down causing sweat to slide off my body. Razi stood with a hand shielding his face as he looked up, surveying our route, before leading us on up the mountain. He upped the pace somewhat, pushing me to my limit. By the time we reached the summit, I was struggling for breath and my throat was on fire, yelling for a drink. Even Razi was out of breath, but somehow still smiling. He leant over resting his hands on his thighs, trying to catch his breath. I on the other hand collapsed onto the floor in a heaving mess, earning a laugh out of Razi. He leant over, grabbing my hand and pulled me up.

"Don't sit down yet. You'll stiffen up, do some stretches with me." He led me in a few stretches to cool our muscles down, before taking a seat on a rock and pulling the waters from his bag. I sat beside him and surveyed the view. The whole of Kabul was laid out infront of us, with the suburb where my uncles house was sticking out as a blob of green in the sandy beige tones of the rest of the view.

"You did well Soraya. That was a challenging run." Razi praised, breaking the silence. I glanced at him, unable to reply due to the mouthfuls of water I was gulping down. It was probably a good thing, I'd had a snarky comment ready, but I was making amends today.

"You remind me of Haseem you know." I said instead when I had had my fill of water.

"I do?"

"Yes. You have the same mannerisms, and you speak in the same way."

"Well Haseem is like a father to me. Mine died, when I was a young boy so I didn't know him. Haseem took me in, raised me, taught me. I owe him a lot." Razi looked out at the view as he spoke, half in the past it seemed.

"I'm sorry." I murmured fiddling with the bottle I held.

"It's ok." Razi said throwing me one of his heartwarming smiles. "I have a purpose with Haseem, I'm doing something I believe in. Soon, it'll all pay off."

"Pay off on these plans you're making? Oh come on, you were hardly trying to keep it quiet, I was sat right infront of you when Haseem talked about the first stage. What is the first stage?" I said as he looked at me as if about to shoot me down. He turned his gaze back across the valley, seemingly contemplating my question.

"I suppose you're right. Haseem didn't try and hide it from you. The first stage is exactly what it sounds like, our first move. We're planning a raid on one of the Net HQs in America. We want intel on their planned ops, so we can spoil the party so to speak. As soon as you're done with the Net profiles, we're moving in." Razi said calmly, turning his attention to me to gauge my reaction.

"What do you hope to gain from getting intel on their ops?" I asked confused. Razi turned to face me where he sat, getting down to the business of it.

"The ops are based on taking out the rogues, right? Well Ramin is keen to get the rogue savants onside with our cause, although Haseem is against this. According to him, they would be too likely to try and question our authority as previous leaders of posses themselves, and it would lead to uncertainty in the ranks. Our main aim is just to mess up the ops, cause them to fail. Because if the Net starts failing at their job, and not succeeding in controlling the rogue savants, people will start to lose faith in them."

"Who's Ramin?" I asked while mulling over their plan.

"He's the one in charge, basically. A lot of people think Haseem would be better to lead, but Ramin has it in his head its his duty, his destiny. His name even means warrior in Dari, he believes he's a warrior for the cause!" Razi said with an unbelieving laugh. I had a suspicion 'a lot of people' included Razi. We sat in silence as we were both lost in our own thoughts.

"So you start making people doubt the Net." I said quietly. "Then what? They turn to you?"

"They turn to us Soraya. You're part of this now, you've betrayed the Net too many times to go back." Razi said gently, looking me softly in the eye.

He was right. Their plan was simple, and would work, if they could get the necessary information.

"So they turn to us." I said clearly, looking up to meet Razi's eyes and immediately losing myself in them.

"They turn to us." He smiled

 **Feel free to leave your thoughts in a review!**


	37. Chapter 36

**A.N: Thanks for the reviews, I love reading them! Keep the feedback coming please, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

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We spent the rest of the day sparring on the summit of the mountain undisturbed except by the occasional passing goat herder. We trained and we laughed, the raging war and savant scheming long forgotten in this untouched place of beauty. We both flopped back onto the grassy floor as we finished, exhausted from our efforts.

"I bet you've never seen mountains like these, have you Soraya?" Razi said, obviously proud of his homeland. I bit my lip, recalling the last time I'd been up a mountain. I'd lay there similarly like this, but with Victor beside me not Razi.

"Actually I have." I murmured. "The Rockies, in Colorado." I didn't admit it, but these mountains had nothing on the Rockies.

Razi immediately realised his mistake, glancing over at me worriedly gauging my reaction. He decided to make light of the situation, when I didn't say anything further.

"You didn't exactly strike me as a mountain girl is all, I apologise."

There he went again. The last person that called me mountain girl was Victor. Sighing I sat up, wrapping my arms around my bent knees.

"Just, stop talking Razi. Before you make that hole any bigger ok?"

"Sorry." He said grimly, joining me in the sitting position. He craned his neck looking up at the sky. "We should head back, it's a long way and it'll be getting dark soon." I nodded, accepting Razi's hand to pull my weary body up off the ground. Razi gathered his backpack and we set off, down the steep trail back towards the heart of Kabul. It took half the time to get back, mainly as we skipped down the mountain like little goats.

Haseem wasn't around when we returned, Razi mumbled something about going over plans with him as he disappeared into Haseem's office instructing me to take an ice bath. I didn't see the two of them for the rest of the night, so I was left feeling very sorry for myself eating on my own. The next morning, I went running, again on my own, and it wasn't until Razi found me sat on the floor of the gym cooling down after my practise session that day that I had any physical interaction with another human in nearly 24 hours. He sat down opposite me on the floor, crossing his legs as he looked at me.

"I'd say it's nice to see you, but I think it'd be nice to see just about anyone right now." I complained sarcastically as he sat there. I only earned a disapproving look for that comment.

"I was busy with Haseem. Forgive me."

"Forgiven, I suppose." I said rolling my eyes. "Did you need something?"

"I want to talk, first of all."

"What about?" I groaned as I moved positions, tucking one leg underneath me as I reached out with my hand to touch the toes of my other outstretched foot.

"You, mainly. And your involvement in the ops we're planning." That got my attention.

"Oh?"

"Haseem wants you to start getting some field experience, we think you're ready." He added nervously, as if expecting some outburst from me for that comment.

"Really?" I squeaked, surprising him.

"Yes. How would you feel, about coming on the op to the states, for the intel?"

"Are you kidding me?!" I looked on in disbelief. I was going to ask to go in for that op, but didn't for minute think I'd get to go. It was America, after all.

"No, definitely not, kidding." Razi replied with a hint of humour lacing his voice. "I need to make sure you can work with the team we're assembling, but that's beside the point. Your knowledge of the Net and their systems could be invaluable. We just need you to finish up the profiling."

"I'll get on it tonight! I only have a few, it won't take me any time at all." I gushed.

"Ok." Razi said smirking. "Get them done, and just focus on working on your techniques and train as much as you can. Haseem and I need to get it all fine tuned, so just sit tight until we say so, alright?"

I nodded a little too enthusiastically, I would welcome a change of scenery even if for a short time.

"Make sure you get an ice bath tonight, sooth your muscles." Razi said as he stood up. Pausing in the doorway, he turned back around. "I'll see you at dinner, thought you might prefer some company tonight." He said with a smile which made tingles run down my spine. I looked down, smiling happily to myself.

Haseem was still working when I went down to dinner, to find Razi reading over some papers which he immediately put away when he saw me. Dinner was a much cheerier affair than my lonely meal last night, Razi and I had flowing a conversation and laughed over our pointless chats, the looming op not being mentioned once. For one night, we were just two friends, having dinner like in any other normal situation.

It didn't last long though, the next morning after my run I found a note from Haseem asking me to join one of the training classes down at the centre, somewhere I had only been a handful of times. This time I would be training with a group of other participates. I did firearms training in a group, and Haseem had taken me down to train there several times, but only the two of us. This would be the real test of my abilities, to see if I could hold my own against other trained savants besides my uncle and Razi.

One of my uncles drivers dropped me off, and I headed into the main training room with my bag over my shoulder. Peeking around the door, I saw a handful of people around my age stretching and warming up whilst chatting, with a shirtless Razi heading them up. He spotted me lurking in the doorway, and waved me in with one of his smiles.

"Soraya, good to see you. Sorry I missed our run this morning, I had to take a session here. Was it alright?" He said coming to meet me, and drawing the whole of the rooms attention to the two of us. I was also wondering when it had become our morning run.

"Well it was nothing on the treacherous mountain pass you dragged me up, but it did the trick!" I joked, trying to keep the mood light. Razi grinned, his whole face lighting up with laughter.

"I hope you're not too tired, you need to show us how's it's done." He said with a wink which made my heart flutter.

"Thought that was your job?" I said following him back to the front of the class. I could feel every set of eyes on me as Razi and I bantered back and forth, as we normally did. This was nothing new for us, but apparently the other people in the room were surprised.

"Guess it is. Everyone this is Soraya, she's been having privates to catch up as she was a late entry to the program. She'll be joining us today." Razi announced to the room, which earned a few mumbles and waves of hello. There was a mix of different ethnicities among the people, demonstrating that the program's reach stretched far beyond Afghanistan. I went to join the others in stretching when Razi grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him.

"Don't mention Haseem's your uncle to anyone, it probably won't sit well with a lot of people." He murmured in my ear, his head bent low so his forehead was almost bumping against mine.

"Ok." I whispered, gulping quickly as I pulled away. I could see how being Haseem's niece would seem like I would be getting preferential treatment – I was already getting incredulous looks for apparently being friendly with Razi.

I sat at the edge, starting my stretches just as everyone else finished up and stood around chatting. I was still getting a great amount of looks, this time as I was mirroring the same stretches Razi was going through. We'd both been taught by Haseem who was apparently very set in his ways. Razi looked over at me, his eyes full of laughter.

" _Don't worry about it. You're new meat for them, they'll settle down soon enough."_ Razi said to me. It was the first time he'd ever spoken telepathically and as much as I hated to admit it to myself, his voice was a very welcome visitor in my head. It felt, right.

" _Well they're probably going to kick my ass so actually they'll have more reason to stare._ " I replied grimly as I straightened up, ignoring the fluttering feeling in my stomach at Razi's voice in my mind.

" _I'll protect you, they're all terrified of me."_ Razi smiled at me again before facing the group.

"Alright, spread out everyone, I want you to go through the motions and I want them inch perfect, ok?" Razi was completely in charge here, and looking at the face of the people jostling around me, they really were terrified of him. Dropping my head to hide my smirk, I took a space near the front – I for one wasn't afraid of Razi and apparently the back of the room was reserved for the regulars. I glanced worriedly around, as everyone got into stance.

"Ok, and begin. One, two, three, four, five, six. Again." As Razi counted, the entire room moved in unison into a different position on his count, from stance to an high block, to a upper strike, and a drop kick and repeated it – all the fundamentals of hand to hand combat. They moved in perfect synchronisation, completely focused as Razi began weaving through the well practised group.

 _"Emm, Razi_?" I called, not knowing the routine. His head snapped around to look at my helpless figure standing stock still. He didn't come to me, so as not to draw attention to my lack of knowledge but instead continued his rounds.

" _Forgive me. I forgot you weren't aware of the motions. I'll call them to you._ "

Thankfully, Razi did call out each movement telepathically as he wandered, and I soon picked up the order. I knew all the techniques of the moves, so I had no trouble once the order was mastered. Razi was silent, except for the occasional correction in someone's technique. As he called time, the chat broke out once more as I went and grabbed a drink. I turned around as a girl came over, smiling.

"Hey, Soraya wasn't it? I'm Lucy." She said kindly offering a hand. Her accent was English.

"Hi, nice to meet a friendly face!" I joked.

"Well yeh, they're not exactly the most welcoming bunch huh?" She laughed nervously. "So you seem pretty friendly with Razi? You know him?"

"Razi?" I glanced over to him, briefly making eye contact. "Yeh, we train together. He's been giving me privates." As I spoke more people gravitated towards us, presumably drawn by Lucy making the first move by talking to me.

"No way? You've been training with Razi?!" A blonde very brash young girl had joined us, startling me with her high pitched voice.

"Err, yeh?" I said nervously, unsure what answer they were looking for. More had joined our growing group, with a burly short man wrapping an arm around the little blondes shoulders as he gave a high pitched whistle. He glanced over his shoulder, checking Razi wasn't in hearing range before leaning in close to me.

"Razi is one of the toughest-"

"Roughest!" Jumped in another guy.

"Strongest," added another man.

"Hottest," smooched the blonde.

"Son of a bitch that's going here!" Lucy finished. Their descriptions did anything but match the Razi I knew. I couldn't help giving a little laugh.

"Razi?" I asked astounded.

"Well ya. He's terrifying?" The blonde said. "I admire you for the way you act with him! I'm Kat by the way." She said sticking her hand out. I shook it, still struggling to hide my laughter.

 _"I told you they're terrified of me."_ Razi's smug voice entered my head. I glanced over confused, and he surreptitiously tapped his temple with his finger.

" _Ugh. Stay out of our heads please. And bring that ego down a notch, I thought we talked about that?"_ I chastised, as I dragged my attention back to the chattering Kat. She was so bubbly and vivacious, I was struggling to keep up with her.

"Ok fall in!" A visibly laughing Razi called out interrupting whatever nonsense Kat was spouting now. "I want you to pair up, we're going through the basics, quickly but thoroughly. C'mon, hurry up!"

I was looking around for a potential partner when Kat grabbed my arm.

"Go with me?" She gushed, earning a nod from me. She smiled ridiculously like a four year old on their birthday.

We ran through the basics, with Kat owning me. Despite her tiny size she was very good, and strong. We were practising blocking when Razi came round, taking his turn to assess us. Kat came at me, and I easily deflected her jab with my arm. Before I could blink, she had rearranged her stance and delivered a high kick to my neck, which I just managed to avoid with a block and a slight dodge to aid me. She pulled back as Razi took a step in, coming to me.

"You know what you're doing but do it with more conviction, Soraya." He murmured. He placed a hand on either side of me, one on my lower back and one on my stomach. "Use all your strength, from here and here particularly." He said applying a slight pressure with his hands to indicate what he meant. I nodded, brushing the loose strands of hair off my face as he retreated, and pulled my hands up into stance. I could see Razi wanted me to perform – in the eyes of every single person in the room I was his protégé and I needed to be something special to warrant the VIP treatment I was receiving. This time, when Kat ducked to deliver a spin kick I watched the arc of her leg and timed my block to perfection, bringing my arm through to cleanly deflect her leg with such gusto that Kat was knocked off balance from her supporting leg and crumpled to the floor.

"Perfect." Razi declared, saying nothing else but walking off with a smirk gracing his lips. The majority of the hall had stopped to see my demolishment of Kat and quickly returned to their work as Razi's gaze scanned over them.

"Well I see why they're giving you the special treatment now!" Kat grinned up at me from where she was still kneeling on the floor.

As the end of the session drew around, Razi called us in for a debriefing.

"Good work today. I expect you all out tomorrow morning for a run, then into here straight after. We'll be working through some situations, uneven matchings, hostage situations and the sort. We'll be working together a lot for the foreseeable future, you've all been selected for an op shortly. Off continent."

Hushed whispers and cries of excitement broke out at his words, understandably. This is what we trained for, sacrificed everything for.

"But do not think you're guaranteed a place on the team – slack with your training and I won't hesitate to remove you." Razi brought the excitement down a notch with this statement. "That will be all. I will see you tomorrow." Everyone began packing up, gathering bottles and towels. As I headed to my bag, Razi called out.

"Soraya how are you getting home?" He asked concernedly.

"Oh. I emm-" I hadn't thought about it, in all honesty. Razi must have read my thoughts, as he bent down to pack up his own things before I replied fully.

"Didn't think about it? Thought so, it's alright. I'll give you a lift back." He looked under his arm to throw me a sweet smile, while the rest of the room gawped on at us once again.

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter, I love reading your reviews!**


	38. Chapter 37

"A motorbike?!" I exclaimed, standing by the gleaming black bike Razi had led me out to after training. I was glad everyone else had already left, I would have been getting some right old stares if I was seen racing out of here on the back of a bike with Razi. "You ride a motorbike?"

"No I ride a tricycle – of course I ride a motorcycle Soraya, is that a problem?" Razi sighed, exasperated.

"No I just presumed you drove a car." I said a bit taken aback.

"Well. Presumptions, aren't always accurate Miss Abdali." Razi smirked as he fastened a helmet onto my head, checking the strap carefully.

"And you just happen to carry a spare helmet around all time do you?"

"Actually no, I keep one here at the centre. Just in case."

"In case you have to rescue damsels in distress?" I asked sarcastically.

"Something like that." Razi replied with a somewhat amused expression. He had donned a stereotypical leather jacket and gracefully swung his leg over the bike to sit on the saddle. I clambered slightly less gracefully on behind him, gripping his shoulders to steady myself as I slid forward to fit myself comfortably on the seat behind him. He squeezed my knee reassuringly, as he revved the throttle and pulled onto the road speeding towards home.

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Razi and I settled into a routine of sorts, starting with _our_ morning run, then heading into training on his bike with the others. Occasionally I was left on my own for the run, as Razi had to take classes at the centre. I befriended Kat and Lucy, and Kat's soulfinder Jay. The two had joined the program together, both sharing the same desire to increase the worlds savant domination seemingly. I paired up with all of them durning training, so we constantly tested each other. Jay was strong, and built for it so was the obvious participant. Kat I had known from day one was to be watched – she was impossibly fast and her ability to temporarily paralyse her opponents By immobilising their motor functions made her particularly dangerous, but she hadn't demonstrated her ability on me thankfully. But it was Lucy who was the real danger, as Razi said it was the quiet ones you had to watch. Her gift was somewhat rebuked by her, but it was a vital part of her life. She was only still walking and talking because of it – her life force was sustained by feeding on someone or something's own life. She absorbed life from things around her, usually her friends who have no qualms about sacrificing a small proportion of their life force so she could live. It could have disastrous effects though. If Lucy wanted she could completely drain someone, leaving them dead which made her more powerful if she did. But she wasn't sadistic about it. Her gift was more a curse in her eyes as she often lost control and could hurt people she didn't intend to on occasion. It didn't scare me, we were on the same side after all and she never gave me any reason not to trust her during training.

The friendship between Razi and I deepened with every minute we spent together, which added up to a lot of minutes. We laughed 90% of the time we were together, minus training when we all took everything seriously. But Razi became my constant, the one who was always there to talk to, laugh with, or take out my feelings on. He became the one to fill the very large Victor shaped hole in my life that I had spent the past months ignoring. We never strayed beyond the friends category, although it would have been so easy to I wouldn't let myself think of him like that. We were defiantly, friends.

As Razi and I worked with the rest of the team, we knew the day the news came with a date for our op couldn't be far away. When it did come, Haseem merely told Razi and I over dinner, and it wasn't as celebratory as we'd all imagined it to be. There was no big announcement or gathering, it was simply slipped into conversation. A sort of finality settled over us – we had been given our time frame and it was going to happen, soon. Training stepped up in intensity for the days running up to our op, there were a lot of people counting on us to get this intel so we had to be perfect.

I wasn't involved much in the organisation, I'd done my bit with the Net profiles. We knew what we'd be up against, we knew who worked at the HQ in New York, the one we were hitting. It was one of the bigger Net bases, but they didn't hold any of the _rogue_ savants there they'd arrested which made it low priority in terms of danger from attack. The HQs with holding cells were often targeted by allies trying to break people out. Therefore the level of security, both traditional and savant security was relatively low. I knew all this information from my time in the Net, so again my inside knowledge was valuable.

In the end though, all I had to do was turn up at the airstrip with clothes for the trip. Haseem and I rode in one of his cars to the plane, where the rest of the team were piling bags into the hold. Razi saw us as we arrived, and came over to open my door. He offered me his hand, helping me out of the car along with one of his smiles.

"All ready to go Razi?" Haseem, asked as he joined us around our side of the car.

"Yes, just finishing loading, if you want to board we've got it under control." Razi replied, nodding to the last few bags Kat and Jay were lugging onto the plane.

"Wait, you're coming with us?!" I asked Haseem, shocked.

"Why wouldn't I be, Soraya?" He replied with an amused expression. "Someones got to keep an eye on you on your first op." He smirked.

"I just thought… What if we get captured or something?"

"We won't Soraya. We've got it all planned, it'll all be fine." He called over his shoulder as he walked towards the planes steps. I looked on in bewilderment, not for a second thinking my uncle would be coming. Still, and extra man. Our numbers were now 16 – we were going the stealth method rather than the full frontal all guns blazing attack.

"Shall we?" A grinning Razi asked. Nodding, I lead the way onto the plane as the hold door clunked shut.

I settled down opposite my uncle, and next to Razi. The others chose seats at other tables, for which I was thankful. I intended on sleeping as much as could, and I wouldn't manage much of that with Kat chattering in my ear the entire journey. I closed my eyes soon after take off, and ma aged to sleep most of the way. I woke up several hours later to the sound of Kat's voice bouncing around the small cabin. I had my head resting on Razi's shoulder, as he lolled against the window sleeping himself. I rose off him carefully so as not to disturb him, praying I hadn't been drooling. My uncle was awake, and smiling kindly at me.

"How are you feeling Soraya, you look a bit nervous?" He asked quietly, also not wanting to disturb anyone.

"I'm am a bit yeh. I was always kinda, back stage on the ops with the Net. I'd be lying if i said I wasn't a bit scared." I said trying to smile and make light of the situation.

"It's alright to be scared, Soraya. We all get scared, and that's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well being scared means you'll be more cautious, less likely to make mistakes which could be life costing." It made a kind of sense. "Besides, Razi won't let anything happen to you. He's to watch you, make sure you're ok because I might not always be there. So just, try and stay near to him, ok?"

I nodded, solemnly promising my uncle without words.

"Good. We'll be landing in about half an hour, best wake the others." I nodded again, gently shaking the slumbering Razi. He mumbled and groaned making a fuss before I eventually trusted his eyes not to fold back over and fall asleep again.

"I was having a good dream." He mumbled grumpily.

"Well there's an even better real life waiting for you, I'm here!" I said half sarcastically. He stared at me for a moment, with a look of confusion, before breaking out into one of his dazzling smiles.

"Well with you here, how could anyone ever sleep again?" He laughed, going along with my joke.

Razi and I kept up our bantering until we landed, both agreeing to try and keep the atmosphere light by some unspoken arrangement, for everyone's sake. Once back on American soil, I felt a distinctive draw from the tips of my toes right through to the top of my head, a draw for my soulfinder. The distance between us had been sliced in half drastically and I could feel Victor's presence, even though he was hundreds of miles away. Compared to Afghanistan, he might as well have only been a few miles away.

Pushing it to the back of my mind, I was in a somewhat soberer mood when we got off the plane. Razi was to drive our car, and I was disgusted to see Miles waiting in the driving seat of one of the others. He smiled sickeningly at me when he leered at me as I passed, to which I replied with some choice words.

"What do the guy ever do to you?" Razi asked, bemused as we carried bags and gear from the plane to load into the cars.

"Oh not much. Just held me at gunpoint as he kidnapped me, and drove me hundreds of miles across the country against my will. And he owes me a new car, mines abandoned somewhere in the back end of Montana." I said bitterly. Razi knew better than to let me see him laughing.

"Oh. Well when you put it like that your greeting was tame sweetheart." He said nervously.

"If he comes near me again I'll be anything but tame, especially now I'm not a defenceless little girl." I said through gritted teeth as I dumped the bag I was carrying into the car boot with more force than I intended.

"Remind me never to hold you at gunpoint and kidnap you." Razi said trying to joke.

"Trust me Raz, I don't think you'll be holding me at gunpoint anytime soon." I said wryly, going around to get in the car.

We were heading to one of my uncles safe houses just outside the city to regroup and finalise the plans, to ensure everyone knew their part and the entry and exit strategies. It was simple really. The Net building was designed to look like any other office block in central New York, and so had minimal security at reception so as not to draw attention to itself. One of our tech guys had used my swipe card from the Net to create fully functioning replicas, so we were simply walking in the front door. And even if we were found out, due to the building keeping up its façade, they probably wouldn't put up much of a resistance to stop us, and we'd most likely be able to take them anyway. Our op would have failed, but at least we'd get out. Worst case scenario was we got captured, and in that case it was every man for themselves. It was better a few were caught than all of us, at least some might be able to get away. I couldn't help feeling the Net would be more prepared than they thought – I had tried to voice this but everyone thought it was my nerves talking. In the end I gave up.

We didn't stay long at Haseem's house, we were all too anxious to get on with the job. Before I knew it, I found myself stood in an alley beside the building with Razi as calm and collected as always next to me. He turned to stand infront of me where I stood leaning against the wall. We were dressed like respectable businessmen, not very practical for an op but we needed to blend.

"Whatever happens stay near me, I'll look after you." Razi murmured, with one of his arms raised above my head resting on the wall. To anyone passing the alley we would look like a young couple messing about. He pressed a cold metal gun into my hand. "Shoot to kill, Soraya."


	39. Chapter 38

**A.N: Thanks to the guest reviewer who told Razi to shoo, you made me laugh quite a bit so this chapters for you and everyone else who's reviewed my story! It's quite a short one but things are getting interesting so bear with it! Enjoy!**

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I hoped I looked like your typical business lady, not an uptight insurgent about to rob the company of valuable intel. I hoped I looked like I imagined myself in my head. But I was overly aware of the cold hard metal digging into my back, where I'd stowed the gun Razi had given me. I was sure everyone could see the outline through my jacket, even though Razi assured me you couldn't. I was going in first, with my original card and hoping nobody was monitoring the check in names too closely, and that my card was still active. I prayed I didn't look as nervous as I felt when I scanned my card – my stomach was doing somersaults while I resisted looking behind me to where I knew Razi was waiting, just in case. The green light seemed to take an age to flash up, indicating I had been granted access. I had taken one step through the barrier when all hell broke lose.

"HANDS UP WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

"MOVE, OUT HERE NOW!"

"SHOW ME YOUR HANDS, NOW!"

Shouts bounced around the room, as I stood there immobilised on the other side of the barrier. All of my team were instantly engaged in some form of fight as they came out of hiding, from where I stood I could see we had been ambushed by a group presumably from the Net. They'd been expecting us.

Razi was beating the crap out of three guys simultaneously, while Kat already had two bodies at her feet, seemingly immobilised by her gift. The ambush team were all on the other side of the barrier to me, apparently not expecting any of us to have breached security. They were just a second too late. I glanced behind me, preparing for attack from any angle but the way was clear. I was debating whether to leap the barriers to help my team, or try and carry on with the op when Razi's voice shouted in my head so loud I thought it might explode.

 _"Soraya GO! Get the job done, move now!"_ He screamed as he held of attachers, and his shout triggered my body to unlock. I spun around, grabbing my gun from the back of my trousers and moving off into the building. I wasn't supposed to be the one getting the actual intel, I was more in case things went bad. I wasn't prepared for this. I turned the first corner to find two men coming towards me, neither armed with a weapon. I pushed into a sprint, rushing them instead of firing my gun. The first I reached threw out an arm to hit me, which I easily ducked and spun on my heel to take his companion down with a sweep of my leg. I leapt up, kicking out at the stomach of the the standing man, who keeled over before hitting the floor. The second man was still sprawling around - I grabbed him by hair and whacked his head off the wall, knocking him out cold. I turned to leave, when I felt a hand on my leg – the other one was still going. Letting out a cry of frustration I hit his temple with the butt of my gun. As he slumped to the floor, I turned and carried on, not batting an eyelid at the two now lifeless bodies I'd left in my wake. As I pushed on further into the corridors, I came across more and more men, and dealt with then all in the same fashion. I could hear the constant fight going on with the others, apparently there were more people here than we expected. The corridors here were like a maze – several times I came across bodies I'd taken out. I cried out in annoyance, hitting my hand off the wall as I did. I was getting nowhere.

"Hey, easy, easy!" I wheeled around at the sound of the voice with my gun out, finger twitching over the trigger before I realised it was my uncle stood there. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Haseem wore the telltale signs of a fight – bloodied nose and bruised face partially hidden by blood splatters but apart from that he seemed unharmed. He glanced around at the two bodies littered at my feet, and the other further down the corridor.

"We managed to get past the barriers, everyone's running around in the building, causing trouble so we can get the job done. I followed the trail to find you." He said grimly, indicating to the bodies. "Nice work though." The teacher in him couldn't help praise me.

"It doesn't matter, I can't work out these corridors, I can't find the room!" I cried out.

"It's ok, it's ok. Just keep doing what you're doing, I need to be able to get out. I'll find the room, get what we need. They've designed the corridors to confuse people who shouldn't be here, a low maintenance security option." My uncle said thoughtfully. "Try and find Razi, and Soraya stay safe, ok?" Haseem lent in and pressed a kiss to my forehead before pressing on into the maze of corridors.

I watched my uncles back disappear around the next corner before heading back the way I'd been. I had to keep the way clear. I was sidestepping bodies when I turned the next corner and looked up to see a stranger coming towards me. I didn't hesitate – I raised my gun and pulled the trigger, my bullet finding the exact intended spot right over his heart. He dropped instantly, blood pouring from his wound. I stood, gobsmacked as I stared at the lifeless form. I'd just killed someone. I'd taken out every other person I'd come across up to here, but this was different. I'd only knocked them out but this time I'd actually taken this man's life. I crouched down where I was gasping, not even bothering to cover my back as I came to terms with what I'd just done. God knows how long I sat there, but the sound of scuffling and a hushed voice managed to grab my attention from around the corner. I straightened up, pressing myself against the wall. It wasn't the main fight, that was still far off – I could hear faint cries and bangs. I stilled my heaving chest, trying to calms my breaths as I leant against the wall composing myself. I shook my head from side to side, unclenching my sweaty hands from around the gun I was clinging to, before rearranging my grip and steeling myself. With a deep breath, I threw my body around the corner, gun out in front of me and came face to face with a tall, imposing figure who immediately froze at the sight of me.

It was Xav.


	40. Chapter 39

We both stared on in horror, unable to believe the other was actually there. I'd been a millisecond off squeezing the trigger and taking him out. I looked around frantically, checking my back for enemies or allies alike with my gun still trained on Xav.

"What do you doing here Xavier?!" I hissed taking a step closer.

"Princess, I should be asking you that! I live in New York, this is our neck of the woods! I'm trying to help people!" He whispered harshly back, nodding to the slumped figure by his feet. He had his hands raised slightly above his head in surrender, and was eying my gun alarmingly. "You gonna get that thing off me?!" He nodded at my weapon.

"Are the others here?" I asked, ignoring his request. Xavier knew exactly who I was talking about.

"Yeh, they're here. They're all here. Mom and Zed saw the attack coming." He sighed. Like I thought, they'd seen the attack coming.

I was completely clueless, I would be expected to take him out, shoot the goofy, sweet, funny guy I'd come to see as my brother a while ago, and at any moment one of his family could come running around the corner making my life even harder. I kept my gun trained on him, as he stood there exposed and vulnerable in front of me, for once in his life not coming up with some smart gag.

"Soraya…"

"Don't Xav! Seriously, just, don't say a word!" I spat. My finger was poised on the trigger, itching to pull it like I'd been trained to do. I should be able to rid myself of emotions, feel nothing and do my job. But yet here I was stalling. Xav was family, before he was my enemy. My head was screaming at me to pull the trigger, to finish him while my heart said the opposite. The conflicting thoughts were doing an acrobatic display in my head, teasing me and muddling my mind. How could I shoot the guy who'd guided me through the aftermath of my kidnapping, who'd I'd laughed countless times at and who at one point, I'd have done anything for. I was about to lower my gun, resolving to let Xav leave pretending I'd never set eyes on him, when I heard my name being shouted over the growing battle.

"Soraya! Soraya where are you?!" Razi shouted, his voice growing louder and clearer as he came down the corridor towards us. I looked around wildly, from Xav to behind me, trying to use my eyes to silently beg Xav to run. He remained unmoving though, his eyes flashing warily, not understanding. Before I could call out telepathically, Razi rounded the corner gun raised. I didn't need to look at him for more than a second to know what he was thinking, I could almost hear the cogs turning as he looked between Xav and me processing the scene. Xav's eyes were fixed on Razi, monitoring his reactions. I wasn't the threat here anymore, I'd been about to back down and he knew it.

"Soraya shoot him." Razi said in a menacingly quiet voice. It gave me the chills, making me close my eyes as I resisted. Razi would be reading me, hearing all the thoughts pouring out of my head and he would know. "Why are you hesitating? Shoot him!"

I slowly shook my head, eyes still closed as I lowered my gun.

"Soraya," Razi came to me, grabbing my arm and turning me slightly away from Xav. "You still care about them, don't you. Even now, after all the times you've betrayed them, you still care?" Of course Razi knew Xav was a Benedict, they were their number one targets.

I looked up into those coffee coloured eyes, begging him to understand.

"Are you going to kill this Benedict, or not?" Razi asked calmly.

"I can't." I whispered, head bent.

"Then I'll do it." Razi had his gun raised and trigger pulled before I could even bring my head up, my mouth open in horror. I heard the bang and the cry from both me and Xav as I saw him knocked back when the bullet hit its mark, clutching his stomach as his hands turned to red from the gushing blood. He crumpled to the floor, moaning my name and trying to staunch the flow of blood as Razi dragged me away, back down the corridor. I stumbled along, tripping over bodies and slipping on sweat and blood as I was towed through the building, away from Xavier.

"Nobody needs to know about this, we tell no one! It wouldn't sit well with Haseem, let alone Ramin." Razi hissed in my ear as pulled me along. I nodded blindly, my head running in circles. I had to do something. I couldn't get the image of Xav kneeling on the floor, calling my name as he bled out. I couldn't leave him lying there, dying. I had to do something.

Throwing up my shields against Razi, I did the only thing I could think of knowing the Benedict's were in the building and sought out the all too familiar presence which was almost knocking on my mind.

" _Victor_."

" _Soraya_?!" His shocked voice replied immediately, choking slightly as he registered my presence ever so close to him. He didn't even try and be his normal authoritative self, he was too surprised, mixed with happiness. It flooded my brain with memories, regret and a longing for my soulfinder. I had known I would be bombarded with feelings if I did this, but I couldn't think of anything else to do to help Xav. Desperately, I tried to isolate myself from the emotions which were slowly washing over me, and dealt with the situation efficiently and without letting the feelings overcome me.

" _Xavs hurt, shot. You have to find him he's dying."_

 _"Where? Did you…"_ He didn't need to finish his question for me to know exactly what he was asking. I could sense him moving through the building, grabbing his brothers as he went.

" _Not me. I….Couldn't."_ I admitted. I could feel the shift in Victors demeanour as he registered my words, and there was a distinct change in his approach to this conversation. If I couldn't shoot his brother then there was a chance I still cared enough - there was hope.

" _Soraya, where are you now? I'll come for you…"_ He pushed. I felt his desire being fed through our connection, he was pouring it all on me and forcing me to feel.

" _It doesn't matter where I am, find your brother Vick._ " I sealed off the connection, stopping Victor's hope before it grew too big.

 **So we're only 13 reviews off 100, which I would absolutely love to reach! I'll probably be posting the next chapter tomorrow as usual, but if we get to 100 I might be persuaded to put the chapter after up sooner than normal, and you'll definitely be wanting to read that one after the next! But thank you for all the support so far, it makes my day reading your comments, especially** out of options for usernames' **incredible shouty capitals, I had a good laugh at that one!**


	41. Chapter 40

**Sorry for the delay, I haven't been able to log onto my account until now with all the site problems but here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

I tried to tell myself I wasn't affected by my run in with the Benedicts, but it haunted my thoughts, both conscious and unconscious ones. My dreams were filled with Victor's voice and Xav's slumped body dripping in red. I wanted to know if Xav was alive, if his family had got to him in time, and I wanted the security I had felt when I was with Victor. I had been offered a small taste of my soulfinder again, and I yearned for what we used to have but couldn't ever again.

We were currently hiding out in the safe house we'd stayed in before the raid, preparing to return to Afghanistan and regroup. Razi had pulled me down a fire exit, and out of the building to safety. He'd loosened my vice like grip on the gun enough for him to prise it from me, and wound his arm around my waist to tow me through the city. Despite the ambush, we had succeeded and had hit the Net hard, taking out several key players and gaining valuable information on their future operations. Once we passed that information over to Ramin, plans would begin to take down Nets ops and hopefully gain a few allies in the process. Everyone was confused as to how they knew we were coming, unless there was a spy among us, which rattled a lot of cages. I knew though, I just didn't say. Karla and Zed Benedict had seen the attack we'd planned, warned the Net and even went down to New York themselves, presumably as they'd seen my involvement. With Xav at college in New York with Crystal already, he'd been closest.

All in all it had been a huge success, with them rattled and us on a high. Everyone except me. Razi alone knew the real reason, but for whatever reason he kept it quiet. I took to hiding in my allocated room in the days that passed while we waited for the all clear to get out of there and back to Afghanistan. Razi would deliver me food at meal times and attempt conversation, but knew he was fighting a losing battle. It wasn't that I hated him for shooting Xav, he did what we were supposed to do when faced by an enemy. It was that I thought I'd had the strength to do it myself, and I didn't. I hated myself for still caring about the Benedicts, about Victor.

I'd grown used to Razi's passing comments when he came in, so it was shock to me when he brought my dinner in one night and hesitated when leaving. Instead, he turned around and came to sit on the bed beside where I sat cross legged. I glanced up in shock, to his sympathetic look.

"Stop being so hard on yourself Soraya." He said gently, placing his hand on my knee. "I get it, I do. You care about the Benedicts. They were kind to you, looked after you, gave you what you didn't have. It's only natural. But you do understand, I had to kill him, don't you?"

I nodded slowly, biting my lip to stop the lump in my throat growing any bigger.

"I wish I was strong enough to have done it." I whispered, looking down at my clasped hands in my lap, and Razi's strong, tanned hand on my knee. "I wish I didn't care. But I do, Raz. I do care and I hate myself for it." I looked up shaking my fringe from my face as I did.

"Its part of what we do Soraya, it's something you learn, over the years."

"How? How can I suddenly be ok with killing someone I care about?"

"We need to have the capacity to isolate our emotions and just do our job. It's not easy, but I have that ability. You will too, it'll get easier. That Benedict was just the start, seeing me kill him will help you."

"He was called Xavier." I snapped, unexpected rage flaring up inside me. "And he might not be dead." I said in a smaller voice unable to meet Razi's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Razi said slowly and purposefully, taking his hand off my knee, worried for what I'd been hiding from him.

"I did something stupid. I know I should see him as the enemy, but Xav's Xav, you can't hate him, it's impossible. I told his family he was hurt, when we were leaving. Told them to find him." I said quietly.

Razi drew fully away from me, running his hand through his hair frustratedly.

"Dammit Soraya what did you do that for?!" He cried.

"I couldn't let him die! All I could see was him, bleeding out and I had to do something!"

"Don't you understand, if that Benedict has died what a boost this'll be for us? The Benedicts are the number one targets, if we had known they were in that building earlier, they probably wouldn't be still breathing. If we've killed one of them they'll be broken, not thinking straight not themselves. They'll be out of the picture for a time and then they'll fear us. Because we actually acted on our threat."

"You're wrong. They won't be scared of you, they'll be angry. They'll take it out on you and trust me, the day that happens you should be the one that's scared."

"Well that day might be sooner than you think." Razi said drawing off the bed and making for the door. "There's no chance that Benedict survived, I know where to shoot to kill, and no matter how quickly his family got there, he'd be dead. So you'd better hope if what you say is true, they find it in their hearts to forgive you." He spat slamming the door on me.

After seething/worrying for a good hour over Razi's words, I finally extracted myself from my room that night, to mingle with Kat and Lucy and the others in the wake of Razi and mines argument. The atmosphere was strained, apparently the tension between Razi and I was wearing off on everyone.

"Hey, what's the deal with you and Razi?" Kat whispered rather loudly. I glanced around, seeing Razi ignoring us but I wasn't fooled, he'd be listening to our conversation, or our thoughts.

"Keep your voice down would you?" I whispered harshly. "Nothing's up with us."

"Oh c'mon Ray, you can practically taste the tension between you two. That's not nothing." Jay protested.

I ducked my head, desperately trying to come up with some reasonable explanation.

"And the guys obviously in love with you Soraya, that's why it's beating him up so much, whatever it is!" Kat said nonchalantly.

"What?" I cried snapping my head up to look at her. I didn't dare look at Razi's reaction.

"Well he is? He's Mr Ice with everyone else, but you've got him like putty in your oh so innocent hands Ray, and you apparently don't even realise." Kat said, with a smirk. I looked to Lucy for confirmation.

"'Fraid she right Ray, Razi's obsessed with you." She said quietly, almost sounding sorry for me.

I looked down again, wondering what to say. In the end, I opted for the truth.

"I had no idea he felt like that. I think of him as a friend, only a friend. I doubt he'll feel the same now anyway - on the op, he shot someone when I couldn't. Someone I cared about. I hesitated and he didn't, but it's not that. I tried to make sure someone found him, his family saved him and Razi didn't approve."

"Ahh. I can understand that. Who was it, do you know if he lived?" Jay asked softly.

"It was a Benedict, and I have no idea." I said glumly.

"Benedict? Why would you care about any of the Benedicts?" Kat asked brashly.

I faltered – nobody besides Haseem and Razi knew about Victor, and everyone else hated the Benedicts with a passion. I hadn't felt the need to to tell anybody.

"Soraya?" Jay prompted.

"One of them is my soulfinder." I said quietly, avoiding their eyes. There was silence for a good minute at least as they came to terms with the bombshell I'd just dropped.

"Well damn me." Kat breathed. I would've put money on her being the first to comment.

"Kept that one quiet, huh Ray?" Lucy said gently.

"Well it explains why Razi's never made a move on you, and probably never will. Not when there's a soulfinder in the picture - I'm guessing he knows?" Kat said as she studied her nails.

"Yeh he knows, and I didn't see the point in saying anything to anyone else. He means nothing to me, I'm trying to forget him and his family."

"Ha. Who are you kidding Soraya? Jay could never mean nothing to me so I doubt your Benedict means nothing to you." Kat burst out.

"Well I think she proved he doesn't mean nothing to her, was it him Raz shot or one of his family?" Jay asked.

"His brother. The last guy in the world you could ever hate. Razi's adamant he'll have died, even if he was found any time soon." I said dropping my gaze once more. "They were also the reason we were ambushed. Karla, the mother and Zed the youngest brother can see the future. Xav, the one Razi shot, said they'd seen the attack coming. Xav lives in New York anyway, he was closest which is why he was there to be shot."

"At least we know we don't have a spy." Lucy said optimistically.

"And I know he means something to you Ray, but think how good killing a Benedict will be for us?" Kat said excitedly to the others, who murmured or nodded in agreement. They launched into a conversation about the benefits of Xav's death. I couldn't listen to this, them talking about Xav like he was nobody. I got up to leave, ignoring calls and apologies from the group. As I put my hand on the door handle to leave, the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. All chatter stopped immediately, each of us suddenly on high alert. I quietly opened the door, checking the light situation in the hall. It was dark there too, the whole house was out. Before any of us could react, the windows smashed and the room began filling with smoke, which immediately found its way into our lungs and choked us. I grabbed my chest as I struggled for breath, glancing around wildly as lights started flashing in all directions trying to get my head to work. Before I could come up with any sort of plan, I felt rough hands grab me, and push me onto the floor.

"GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW!"

A voice like thunder shouted in my ear, and I could hear similar shouts reverberating around the room. I briefly debating fighting back, but it would be hopeless, I couldn't see a thing and was still gasping for breath from the smoke. I flattened on the floor, and felt my hands being roughly pulled behind me to be bound together. I was hauled onto my knees so I was slightly more comfortable, it was very considerate. I paid little attention to the rest of the shouts, instead zoning out and trying to control my breathing until the lights came back on and I got a look at our captors.

They were togged up with gas masks and night vision goggles, so added to the element of surprise, no wonder they had the upper hand on us. They were talking through devices attached to their goggles, meaning I couldn't make out their conversations. As the smoke cleared, I saw my friends opposite in similar positions to me, and a scuffle still going on in the corner, with Razi refusing to go quietly. There were a couple of beaten and bloodied men rolling around the floor, presumably Razi's doing. Now, there were at least three restraining him, and he was still thrashing about trying to throw them.

"Razi!" Haseem tried to command, but he was ignored. He too, had surrendered himself without much of a fight.

"For gods sake Raz, give in. What are you gonna achieve?" I yelled across to him losing patience. He stopped resisting, and looked me in the eye. He saw the betrayal written across my face, he couldn't understand why I didn't fight them. His head dropped as I returned his gaze, begging him with my eyes to not cause trouble. It would get us nowhere.

"You should listen to her son. Smart that one." A tall figure with an impossibly deep voice spoke out, pulling his goggles and mask off as he did. He turned to me and I gasped as I looked up into a familiar weathered face.

"Hello, Soraya." Saul said, offering an obviously strained smile. I gulped, unable to meet his eyes directly. Another of the figures came up behind Saul, stripping his mask and goggles too. Will stared down at me, and I didn't need to make eye contact for more than a second to tell he was disgusted with me. Unlike Saul who was obviously trying, he made no attempt to hide it.

"You two know this one?" The man seemingly in charge asked as the rest of their team began stripping their gear off.

"We do. There was once a time this young lady would have been my daughter in law." Saul said grimly, his voice laced with the unmistakable taste of disappointment.

"Yeh then she turned her back on us for them." Will spat nodding his head at the others on the ground near me. "Do you have any idea what you did to my brother? He would have done anything for you, he was ready to go halfway across the world, again to save you and you shoved it in his face, told him to stick it. Not to mention your threat to us, using us. And then your stunt with Xav was the icing on the cake. You destroyed an already broken man Soraya! Who does that? Were you purposefully trying to mess with him?"

"Will." Saul called quietly, bowing his head towards his son slightly. Will gave a frustrated cry, flinging his mask onto the nearby sofa as he retreated back.

"Well, I hate to break up the happy families, but we need to get this lot transported." The boss said clapping Saul on the shoulder.

"Hardly happy families." Will called over his shoulder. Saul went to him, wrapping his arm around Will's shoulders as he consoled his son. I was hoisted roughly onto my feet as the room swung into action.

"Wait. Wait. Is Xav alive? Saul please, did he make it?" I cried desperately as I was hauled from the room.

Whether Saul answered or not, I wouldn't know, I was bustled out of the house alongside my friends and into a waiting prison van. We were all cuffed up, me somehow ending up beside a still prickling Razi.

"Well you seem to have really done a job on that soulfinder of yours Soraya." Kat joked wryly, receiving no reply from anyone. None of us had the heart to make conversation, we were so royally screwed it was untrue. We would be going down for a long time, for crimes against the Net. Plotting, conspiring, breaking and entering. Murdering. They would all go on our records.

A short but uncomfortable ride later, uncomfortable in all senses of the word, we were pulled from the van one by one by different people, and deposited into individual cells where we remained for so long I lost track of time. There were no windows, the walls were bare and stark white, and there was no furniture, nothing to help pass the time. I knew it had been nearing 11pm when we were first raided, but there was no telling how long ago that was. I guessed it would be the early hours of the morning, and despite the time I couldn't sleep. I was too on edge and surrounded by uncertainty.

At some point, I must have dozed off as I woke to the slamming of cell doors and shouts. I jolted awake, confused at where I was at first before my brain clicked back into place. I sat on the bed, head in my hands as the lock on my door clicked and it swung open. Two strangers stood there as I raised my head.

"Time for you to come with us. We have a few questions." He beckoned me towards him, and I held out my hands for them to be cuffed.

"Don't worry about that, you try anything and Harvey here will make sure you don't get very far." The man gestured to his surly companion, who grinned wickedly. With a nervous laugh, I followed the man down a series of corridors to an interview room, where he nodded for me to enter. With a deep breath, I prepared myself for the questioning to ensue and my betrayal to be unearthed to its full extent, and pushed the door open. What I saw threw all of my preparations into disarray. Stood in a perfectly pressed suit with his long sleek hair tied back and looking as sublimely gorgeous as when I first set eyes on him, was Victor.


	42. Chapter 41

Victor turned around to face me where I stood shell shocked by the door. His face was strained, telltale bags under his eyes. There was no knowing how long it was since he'd had a decent nights sleep, he obviously wasn't looking after himself. It annoyed me he wasn't, but I had to remind myself I'd pushed him away so I had no right to worry over him. His eyes swept over my body, checking I was alright I liked to think. Clearing his throat, he indicated to the chair for me to sit down, taking his own seat across the table. I sat down gingerly, studying Victor's face for any sign of my Vick in there. I was wishing on a prayer – I had broken him with lies, lies he'd believed and lies which had destroyed him. I didn't deserve his love anymore.

"Miss Soraya Abdali. Correct?" He began, studying his papers as he spoke. His voice was hard and sharp, not the voice I had come to expect from him. I glanced up in bewilderment as his words registered.

"Vick. You know who I am?" I whispered, heartbroken. Victor looked visibly uncomfortable for a brief second as he shuffled in his chair, refusing to meet my eyes.

"It's for the purposes of the tape. Other agents may require to listen to this interview." He said matter of factly, indicating the recorder sat on the table. I nodded, confirming I was the person in question.

"For the further purposes of the tape, this is Agent Victor Benedict of the FBI, conducting interview number 5, time of 10.53am." He finally brought his eyes up to look at me. "I have been asked to conduct the initial interviews of all members of the Afghanis savants. If you do not comply I will exercise my gift and you will be forced to comply, do you understand?"

I understood all too well, I was familiar with his gift after all. I wasn't surprised they'd got him doing the interviews, they'll get what they wanted out of everyone.

"I'm right in saying you used to work for the Net, and had done for nearing six years?" Victor began the real questioning.

"Yes." I couldn't raise my voice above a whisper.

"And as of 10 weeks ago, you betrayed the Net to join the savant circle in Afghanistan. Is this right?"

I looked up, wondering what reply I should be giving. I hadn't willingly joined them, yet I was part of them, fighting for their cause.

"Technically, yes. But I –"

"We'll get down to those details a bit later Miss Abdali. Were you or were you not involved in the raid 3 days ago on the Net HQ in New York?" Victor carried on without faltering.

"Yes."

"And you did so willingly?"

I stared at Victor with growing pity for myself. Neither of us spoke while we waited for my reply, just stared into each other's eyes trying to draw our own conclusions from the other.

"Vick you know it wasn't like that. It's complicated." I whispered again, wishing for an opportunity to explain myself. I silently begged him with my eyes to give me a chance, maybe I wouldn't be sent down for so long if I could explain. Sighing, Victor reached over and turned the recorder off with a loud click in the silent room. Leaning forward, he set his forearms on the desk and laced his fingers together.

"I told myself I would deal with this professionally, that I wouldn't let my emotions get in the way. I came in here fully intending to let you go down for what you've done. This isn't like me, to let my feelings get in the way." He looked distressed as he spoke – he ran his hand through his hair. Such a Vick gesture. I noticed his hands were shaking too, he was becoming undone in the presence of his soulfinder. "But Soraya I can't do that, I want to help you I _need_ to help you. I know you didn't have a choice, I know you didn't mean anything you said to me and I know you still love me. Because even after everything you've said and done, I still love you."

I met his gaze with my own eyes glistening with tears as he spoke clearly and truthfully.

"Tell me your story, let me help you." He said quietly flicking the recorder back on. Swallowing, I wiped my tears away.

"My uncle arranged my kidnapping from Aspen, to take me to him. That part was against my will, I didn't want to go with Miles."

"Miles?" Victor questioned.

"He works for my uncle Haseem, here in America. I don't know his last name, but I know he's from Seattle. He took me, threatened me with a gun. He has men all over, the one in England was Ringo." I shivered recalling that car journey with Miles while Victor scribbled away ferociously on the pad infront of him. "Do you think you can find Miles? He scares me." I murmured, acknowledging that fact of the first time.

"Maybe. If we nail the others we can get him." Victor said thoughtfully, eyeing me with concern as I admitted my fear. What happened after Miles?"

"You rang, promising to come for me." I whispered. "What I did Vick, was to protect you. You have to understand, their whole plan was to get you to come for me, so they could kill you. The Benedicts are number one on our – I mean their hit list. If you'd come, they'd have killed you."

Victor largely ignored my last statement, the only sign he'd actually heard me was a slight twitch in his jaw. I took his silence as my queue to carry on.

"I had no choices, what could I do? I had to go along with him. We drove to Seattle, my uncle had a plane waiting. He has men everywhere, so I got on the plane." It seemed a lifetime ago I was sat on that plane crying my heart out, dreading setting foot back in that country.

"Once I learnt my uncles plans, I knew I absolutely had no choice. I was stuck there, the only people that cared enough about me to do anything I'd pushed away, lied to. So I embraced it, and the rest is what led me to now." I finished, cutting out the majority of my time in Afghanistan.

"Would you count the people you work with as friends now, family?" I knew it pained Victor to ask, as he feared the answer.

"Yes. I care about them." I mumbled, unable to meet his eyes.

I could tell Victor needed a few moments to process it all, so I kept quiet as he studied his notes. I knew when he turned the recorder off again what he was about to say was for my ears only. He looked at me, his eyes burning like liquid silver.

"I get it, Soraya. I get why you did what you did, and I why you've grown close to the people you met out there. You needed someone to trust. But if I'm going to help you, you need to change your story." He finally said.

"What do you mean, lie?!" I said alarmed.

"Not lie. Bend the truth. You were there against your will, maybe not for the whole duration but if you claim you were, you might get off. If I can swing it so they believe you weren't there by choice, you have chance." Victor stated.

I stared up at him for the hundredth time today.

"No, I can't do that, I was there willingly by the end." I stated, shaking my head.

"Soraya, if you'd had any other choice, would you have stayed?"

"I might –"

"Answer me truthfully Soraya. Would you have stayed?"

I was silent for a long time thinking it over, so much so Victor jumped in again.

"Soraya, when we were in England, I remember you begging me not to let them take you. The girl who poured her heart out to me, asked me to protect her wouldn't have wanted to stay. So I'll ask you this one more time. If you'd had any other choice, would you have stayed?"

"No." I said quietly. Victor leaned back slightly after getting the answer he was after.

"So truth be told, you were there against your will?" Victor persisted.

"I…I, yes. I was. But Vick I've done some terrible things! I've betrayed every single person in the Net." I said mortified, bringing my hand up to cover my mouth.

"How?" Victor asked, wearing a puzzled expression.

"They have all the Net files, I don't know how but they have profiles on every single person in the Savant Network. Haseem worked with me, taught me to experiment with my ability, so I was able to uncover their gifts from merely reading their profiles and looking at a picture. I told them every single one of their gifts."

"We know it's a risk having information stored for the Net members, we can deal with that." Victor said seemingly unfazed by my confession.

"But I told them everything about you, about your family. God I even told them Diamond was pregnant. And I –"

"And what Soraya?"

"I let Razi shoot Xav." I whispered. "Vick, did Xav…"

Victor's gaze immediately dropped at my unfinished question, and I feared the answer.

"Xavier died, Soraya. I didn't get to him in time, and he died." Victor said with his eyes glazed over in hard steel.

The question that had been haunting my thoughts for the past two days had finally been answered and it was the answer I didn't want to hear. It explained the raid on our safe house. Xav was dead, and the Benedicts wanted revenge, and it explained why Will was so angry. I might not have pulled the trigger myself, but I didn't stop Razi doing it. I'd as good as killed him.

"Oh god. Oh god. I should have done something, I should have helped him!" I cried as the tears I had been holding back spilled out. "What have I done?"

The enormity of my betrayal was hitting me all at once, I hated myself. I started to lose control of my breathing, the techniques Xav had taught me had died with him. I felt strong, familiar arms come around me, encasing me in a warm cocoon of safety. Victor was stroking my hair, shushing me as I cried a river of tears into his shirt. It feel so right here in his arms, I felt safe and I didn't ever want to leave. But all too soon Victor pulled away, crouching down on the floor beside my chair.

"Soraya listen to me. I will get you out of this. If you stick to the story, we tell them you were held against your will it'll be fine. Forget anything you feel for your uncle, for your friends out there. Do you think for one second they'd pick you over themselves? Because that's what you need to do now. Think about yourself."

"Have the capacity to isolate my emotions." I murmured, quoting Razi.

"Exactly." I looked at his beautiful face, still helping me after very thing I'd done and I loved him for it.

"Vick I didn't mean any of those thing I said in that text. None of it was true." I said stroking his face gently.

"I know baby. Its ok, I have the capacity to forgive my soulfinder, for anything. If I can forgive you then my family will too. Trust me."

"I do." I whispered.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you, Soraya. I was a mess without you. Believe it or not I tried for weeks to find you, but after I decided you were in Afghanistan the others made me stop obsessing and move on. But it wasn't until mom and Zed saw you in New York that we had a breakthrough."

"You were all there?" I asked.

"Yes. We saw the raid you were planning, we were too late to stop it, but Xav was already in New York for college, which is why he was closer to you."

"I was going to let him go you know. I couldn't do it. Couldn't shoot him. But then Razi…" I trailed off as I thought of Razi pulling that trigger.

"I knew when you spoke to me there was hope. If you couldn't kill my brother, then you weren't completely gone. I wanted to find you, but then Xav…"

"I'm so sorry Vick. I didn't have chance to stop Razi, he's too quick." I said shaking my head.

"It's not your fault. I don't know if I can do this Razi's interview without killing that bastard though." Victor said gritting his teeth.

"Hey." I said soothingly, bravely taking Victor's hand to ease it out of a fist. "Razi shot him in cold blood, it's only natural how you're feeling. I told myself I didn't hate him for it, but I think I do."

"Soraya I should probably tell you now –"

Whatever Victor was going to say was cut of by the door flying open, and the man who had escorted me from my cell was stood there.

"Everything ok Agent Benedict?" He asked, puzzled by Victor's crouched form by my side.

"Yes fine Yates. Soraya was just a bit worked up, I think shes had enough for today. Escort her back to her cell?" Victor said calmly. He stood up, returning to his side of the desk as Yates came and took my upper arm less than gently to guide me out of the room.

" _Just sit tight Soraya, I'll sort this. I love you."_ Victor said as I left, and I couldn't help snatching one last look at him.


	43. Chapter 42

I sat in that cell for what seemed like weeks with no word from Victor. Maybe he'd been lying to me, to get me to confess to everything. Maybe he didn't give a damn about me after all. Although I wasn't questioned further again though – I could see Victor's hand in that. I might crack if it was someone else doing the questioning, and he wouldn't be able to help me say the right thing. So maybe he was trying to help me still? I talked myself in circles for almost the duration of my stay in the cell, fantasising over Victor saving the day like my knight in shining armour and then abandoning me, leaving me to rot.

But the day my cell opened all doubt dissipated from my mind like chains falling away. There stood Yates, holding the door open with a straight faced Victor stood behind.

"Looks like your lucky day sweetheart, you've got bail." Yates drawled, beckoning for me to leave. I looked from him to Victor, not believing my luck.

"Believe it baby. And you can thank Yves for the bail money, sometimes a millionaire brother is useful." Victor said wrapping his arm around my shoulders to guide me out and I couldn't help smiling. As we passed through the corridors, a tiny girl with a plume of blonde hair passed in the opposite direction. I spun around, and came up looking Kat straight in the eyes.

"Kat…" I breathed.

"Ray! Oh my god, you're the first person I've seen for ages! They taking you for more questioning? Have you seen Jay? Or Razi, anyone?" Kat gushed as her escorts permitted us to talk to each other.

"I haven't seen anyone. And I'm actually leaving, I got bail." I said quietly, wondering what her reaction would be.

"Bail? Then do you have a lawyer? Can we share him, none of us have the money for a lawyer. Where did you get the money from actually?" She asked puzzled.

"No it was-"

Kat cut me off as she noticed Victor stood behind me, his hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Ohh. _He's_ your soulfinder? And _he's_ got you off? I thought the Benedicts hated you now."

"We don't hate her. We understand why she did what she did, and we'll forgive her for it. She wasn't there by choice, and now if you'll excuse us we have people to see." No nonsense Victor jumped in, eyeing Kat before gently pulling me away.

"You didn't seem to be there against your will by the end Soraya!" Kat hollered as her escorts dragged her away from me. I winced as I felt the tones of accusation piercing my body.

I shakily signed release papers and the contract stating the conditions of my bail, and left the building finally stepping out into the fresh air, or as fresh as it could get in the heart of New York. The hustle and bustle of the packed streets was not in my daily routine, the routine I'd fallen into with Razi. I did miss my morning run, however. I'd be starting that back up as soon as I could. Victor took my hand, smiling down at me as he led me through the streets.

"Where are we going Victor?" I asked.

"To Xav and Crystal's flat. We've been based there, and in Zed and Sky's. But everyone's waiting in Xav's. They don't hate you, by the way, the others. I wasn't lying. They wouldn't all be waiting eagerly to see you if they did." He replied while negotiating the pavements.

"Well they haven't seen me yet. Will couldn't even stand the sight of me." I murmured quietly.

"Will was caught up in the moment. He knows he was harsh on you there, don't worry about him. I've spoken to him."

"Well what about Crystal…"

"Soraya, honestly. Don't worry. They don't blame you for anything. Look, the long and short of it is, if I can forgive you then they can too."

"I'll believe that when I see it, alright." I said doubtfully.

"Well that would be about now." Victor announced, pulling me off the street and into a building. It was an old warehouse, converted into flats which were big and roomy inside. I stood nervously fiddling with my zip on my jumper as we waited in the lift, moving up to the top floor. Victor reached across to take my hand, stopping my nervous movements.

"You're making me nervous baby. Stop it." Victor murmured keeping his eyes straight ahead, but with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Sorry." I whispered following his gaze to watch the numbers tick up on the lift display. We didn't have long to wait, there were only three stories. The doors pinged open, and Victor, still holding my hand had to tow me from the lift to the front door.

"Ready?" He asked me, pausing with the key near the lock. Nodding, I bit my lip as he turned the key and pushed the door open. He stepped in, shouting a welcome as he did. Immediately Karla came bustling from the room at the end of the hallway, her arms open wide as she pulled me immediately into a hug.

"Oh Soraya, you have no idea how good it is to see you my lovely! Don't you worry about anything, nobody blames you at all!" She exclaimed.

"Mom." Victor said, a warning.

Karla pulled back to look me up and down ignoring him, gasping as she did. "You look amazing! I can't believe the change!" She exclaimed, shocked.

Saul had followed her into the hallway, and gently extracted me from his wife to hug me himself. "I hope you're ok, Soraya. Forgive me for my treatment of you the other week. We were just doing our job."

"It's fine Saul, I understand." I said in a muffled voice into his shoulder.

We progressed down the hall slightly before a heavily pregnant Diamond came waddling out with Trace hovering protectively behind her.

"Soraya!" She grabbed me and held me tight, she didn't even need to speak. All her feelings were conveyed in that one hug. Over her shoulder, I made eye contact with Trace who offered me a strained smile. I had no doubt he'd know about me telling Haseem and the others about Diamond and the baby – I had threatened his soulfinder and child and he wasn't going to forget that any time soon. "Come on, come through." Diamond said, linking her arm through mine as Victor and Trace shadowed us, and lead me into the end room, an open plan kitchen lounge with huge ceilings.

The entire Benedict clan was stood or sat making the big space feel somewhat smaller, especially to me. They all looked up at me expectedly as Diamond presented me to them. My eyes scanned the room, Zed and Sky nearest the door who both hugged me, Phee and Yves stood very close to them. Will, lurking at the back in the kitchen beside Uriel, and Crystal stood with Tarryn behind the sofa, where sat a widely grinning, very much alive Xavier.

"Xav!" I called out, running over to him. "I thought… Vick told me you were dead!" My eyes filled with tears, which cascaded down my cheeks and for the first time since I could remember, they were happy tears.

"Well Princess, I am very much alive and kicking and glad to see you are too!" He joked, wincing slightly as he laughed with me and clutched his side.

"Xav be car –" Crystal started muttering, but Xav cut her off.

"Cupcake I'm fine. Don't worry!" He said, grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it. "It's a joyous occasion, the family's complete again. Nice work Vicky!" Xav crowed cheerfully, nodding to Victor.

"It's not over yet." Victor replied somewhat grimly. "I have to get her off still, we need to plan what we're gonna say. And we we need to deal with the rest of them now, in Afghanistan. Soraya we'll need to know everything you can tell us about them."

"Give the girl a break Vick, she's just got out of prison. We can deal with all that tomorrow, ok?" Phew jumped in with, always sticking up for her friends.

"Of course. I'm sorry." Victor said immediately, throwing me a smile.

"In that case, c'mhere lil sis! Welcome home!" Xav crowed, leaning towards me with an arm extended. I knelt forwards and wrapped my arms around him as carefully as I could, but trying to pour my apology into the hug because I knew I'd be hard pushed to fit a spoken one in.

"I'm not your little sister." I managed to mumble, my voice muffled against Xav's chest.

"I know, but you are smaller than me!" Xav laughed at his own joke and winced as the movement jostled him. "Y'know I am really glad you didn't shoot me Soraya. I thought you were gonna for minute, that would've really sucked." Xav joked as I pulled back.

"Because getting shot by Razi sucked so much less?" I said cringing at the memory, as I sat back on my heels.

"That's the son of a bitches name then?" Xav said cocking an eyebrow.

"Xavier!" Karla immediately chastised. "A bullet in the stomach does not affect your voice box does it?"

"It might have caused some late delay traumatising effects on the brain?" He tried hopefully.

"Oh no you don't try that one. There's nothing wrong with your voice, brain or anything else besides that bullet wound, is there?"

A sheepish Xav shook his head, not daring to further challenge his mother.

"Then you watch your language young man!" We all laughed as Xav squirmed under Karla's stare.

In the space of a few minutes, Xav had managed to make me feel at ease and fit back in with the Benedicts again. Overall, they were remarkable welcoming to me, with only Crystal throwing me warning looks when I was interacting with Xav. Of course she would be protective of him, I'd been holding her soulfinder at gunpoint about to pull the trigger. Will managed to formulate an apology for his words the other night, but was still understandably distant with me.

I sat on the sofa tucked under Victor's arm as we all chatted away, the difficulties of the situation forgotten for a time.

"So Soraya." Zed began, a mischievous look on his face as he cradled Sky in his lap. "I hear you can kick ass now?"

"Emm, I guess so." I said half ashamedly.

"Seriously? Man you gotta show us!" Zed said excitedly, jumping up and depositing Sky onto the sofa in his place. "I bet you can't take me?"

"Zed I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Trace said warily from the sofa opposite.

"Nah it's fine. C'mon Soraya. Not scared are you?" Zed goaded.

"Yes it might do Zed some good to have some sense knocked into him Trace!" Diamond said cheekily glancing at me, asking me silently to kick his ass.

"Actually I would be smart to be scared." I said getting up and accepting his challenge. "Fear is good. It keeps you alive." I quoted my uncle.

"Ooh they taught you mind games too?" As he shoved the coffee table from the middle of the room, creating our sparring area.

"No mind games. Just the facts, anything to get the upper hand."

"Ace. Bring it then Soraya!" Zed turned to face me as I slipped automatically into stance. He eyed me warily, maybe beginning to regret his decision. He swung his right arm out which I brushed away like it was nothing more than a fly. He hit out again, and I ducked under spinning out. In any other situation I would have raised my leg as I spun to deliver a mighty fine roundhouse kick, but I was worried it would take him out and I hadn't had my fun yet. We circled round keeping each other in front to stay in the best position. Neither of us had landed a hit yet, but I hadn't even tried. It was too easy. I saw the flinch of his bicep as he went in to hit me with his left hand this time, and I grabbed his arm this time before he'd barely began his swing, twisting it up and over my head as I spun him around and knocked him off balance. He cried out, with his brothers giving little laughs as Zed backed off, clutching his left arm.

"I was going easy on you Soraya, I wasn't keen on hurting a girl but you just declared war." Zed said grinning wickedly.

"Dont be so cocky Zed. It'll be your downfall." Yves warned him quietly.

"Bring it Benedict." I said refusing to let my concentration waver. I'd been professionally trained to do this every single day for nearly ten weeks – there wasn't a chance in hell Zed was taking me down.

He began delivering his hits faster, trying to catch me out. I blocked each and everyone effortlessly, earning gasps and whoops from the watching audience. They were a blur to me, as I was entirely focused on my opponent. Now, while I was still warming up, Zed was heavily breathing as he tried to find a way through my defences. The Benedict brothers were by no means unfit – by anyone's standards they were ripped. But they hadn't under gone the intensive workouts I'd been subjected to. I was in peak physical fitness, and decided to put Zed out of his misery.

My hand snaked out grabbing his wrist from the latest hit, again twisting it up as I bent from the waist and dropped, spinning on my heel, delivering a perfect kick to his stomach. He didn't fall back far as I still had hold of his arm, instead bending over in pain. This gave me my opportunity to twist around and throw Zed over my shoulder, dumping him flat on his back as I tucked my forearm under his chin restricting his windpipe. He stared up at me dumbfounded as I jumped up, and backed off, smiling to myself. There was silence around the room, before Xavier gave a loud whoop.

"Little bro, she owned you man!" Xav said with great glee slapping his hand down on the back of the sofa as Zed dragged himself up from the floor. I sat back down with Victor, barely even puffing. A disgruntled Zed was cooed over by his concerned soulfinder, while everyone else seemed too scared to comment on my performance.

"Fair play Soraya. Remind me never to get on your bad side!" Zed laughed nervously, snapping the rest of the room out of their daze. Beside me, Victor chuckled.

"The majority of the bodies at the Net building were her doing, I interviewed most of them. I would've warned you, but sometimes it can do you good to have that ego taken down a notch or two Zed." Victor said, not quite managing to fully hide the hint of pride in his voice.

Karla, who had sat silently biting her fingernails through the whole display jumped up, clapping her hands.

"Now that ridiculous spectacle is over, who's hungry my sweets?" The entire room erupted in shouts and whoops as Karla bustled off into the kitchen to whip up some delightful concoction.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a bit of a light one after all the heavy recently.**

 **To the guest who said I killed Xav because I didn't like Seeking Crystal, I loved that book as I do all the books. It just felt appropriate to kill him off due to him being Victor's favourite brother, it fit best. Xav's one of my favourite characters, and I hope you're pleased to see him alive!**

 **Please leave a review, we're nearly at 100!**


	44. Chapter 43

Finding myself alone with Victor for the first time since we'd come to the flat, I sat him down and asked him the question which had been nagging me since we arrived.

"Why did you lie to me about Xav dying?" I asked looking him straight in the eye, hoping to read something from his face. He glanced down briefly before he answered.

"It was the push you needed. I wasn't going to lie, but I saw how cut up you were because of it. I was also going to tell you in the interview room, but Yates interrupted us."

"The push I needed for what?"

"To come back to the good side, so to speak." Victor said smiling gently at me. "You needed convincing that they were in the wrong, that you were on the bad side, and by killing Xav they gave you the biggest crime to blame them for – murder. And not just murder, but murdering someone you care about."

"Oh. It was that obvious?"

"Baby I knew from the second you told me Xav'd been shot. You must have felt it, my hope? If you'd really gone, you'd have let him die. The girl I fell in love with, my soulfinder was still in there somewhere." Victor said reaching over and stroking my cheek. I kept my eyes down, my long lashes fanning out on my cheeks.

"You're just a master manipulator then really?" I grinned up at him.

"Well, it is my job. Didn't you ever wonder why I'm so good at it?"

"I thought you used your gift, that you cheated!" I teased.

"Believe it or not, I rarely use my gift at work. Sometimes, if I get very frustrated or on savant cases, yes I do. But more often than not its my master manipulation skills which get me through!"

"Well I'm glad you manipulated me." I said shyly.

"And I'm glad you saved my brother, and didn't completely give yourself over to the dark side." He said cupping my chin to make me look at him. He leant forwards pausing slightly right before his lips touched mine, giving me the option. I closed the distance without hesitating and pushed my lips eagerly against his. It was like I'd been living my life in the shadows for the past two and a half weeks the second our mouths touched. Kissing him turned all the lights back on, and I could finally see my life clearly again. How could I have ever abandoned my soulfinder? Haseem, Kat, Jay, Lucy. Razi. They were all insignificant pawns in a much greater world, one which I didn't want to belong to anymore. I'd been foolish to think Haseem could ever be classed as family. I wrapped my arms around Victor's neck, soaking in all the security and certainty that came with him. His hand on my hip flexed, and he began to lean forward to push me back on to the sofa.

"Don't mind me. Because there isn't a perfectly good room just down the hall." A bothered looking Will disrupted us, talking in a gruff voice as he dove into the fridge. I pushed Victor off me as I scooted away, who grabbed my hand to stop me going further than the end of the sofa.

"It's alright Will, Soraya wanted to talk to you anyway." I snapped my head around, glaring at Victor as he spoke, who nodded in encouragement with a small smirk.

"What the hell?!" I mouthed angrily at him.

"She did?" Will said surfacing from the fridge with a carton of juice, which he proceeded to swig straight from the bottle.

"Err, yeh… Yeh I did." I said smiling at Will trying to desperately come up with something to say. I had wanted to speak with Will, but I hadn't expected Victor to dump me in it like this.

"I'm all ears." Will said dryly, briefly turning back around to put the juice away. I shot a look at Victor, drawing my finger menacingly across my throat before Will came over. He lounged on the sofa opposite us, lifting his leg and balancing his foot on his other knee.

"I err, I just…" I looked up directly at Will as I cleared my throat, pulling myself together. "I just wanted to say I deserved everything you said the other day, in the safe house. I was a idiot, but I want you to know everything I did, I did to protect Victor, and your family. I felt trapped, like I had no other choice. So I'm sorry. For everything. And if there was anything I could have done to stop Razi shooting Xav, I would've done it. But he's…." I trailed off, not entirely sure what I thought of Razi now. "I can't forgive him for what he's done, I know that now, but I hope you can forgive me." I surprised even myself with my spiel, I hadn't even known I'd wanted to say all that. I looked at the carpet nervously waiting for Wills reaction.

"I'll forgive you Soraya." He said simply, shocking me. "Well if my brothers – both the one you messed up and the one you got shot, can forgive you then I shouldn't have a problem. Welcome home." He said throwing me a typical Will smile as he left.

"Your family are far too understanding." I said in bewilderment to Victor, sinking back into the cushions as the tension left my body.

"Your family too. Don't ever forget that, Soraya." Victor replied earnestly. I threw him a smile, which seemed to placate him.

That night, Victor pulled me tight into his arms as we curled up in the hotel room bed. The majority of the family were staying in a hotel not far from Xav and Crystals apartment, with Will taking the single bed in their spare room. I lay facing Victor, his arms wrapped around my body and ours legs entangled. I didn't fall asleep straight away, I was more content on studying his handsome face and re-familiarising myself with shape of it. There really was no one else to match him on looks. The only others who came even close were his brothers, and then they had nothing on Victor. Call me bias but it was how I felt. When I finally dropped off, my dreams ran riot with Haseem and Razi and Kat, calling me out as a traitor or Xav's body slumping to the ground as his clothes soaked red.

I bolted up right, screaming Xav's name from my mouth. I was dripping in sweat, Xav's lifeless body etched in my mind. Victor jumped as I yelled, immediately turning over to grasp my upper arm.

"Soraya. Baby what is it?" He asked concernedly, brushing my soaking wet hair off my face as he lent into the side of me.

I pulled my knees up and dropped my head into my hands, calming my breathing as Victor rubbed my shoulders waiting for me.

"It's nothing, just a bad dream." I murmured, blowing out a heavy breath. I tried to smile reassuringly at Victor, who was still sat up beside me. "I'll just…. I'm just going to take a shower I think. Yeh, that's what I need." To rid myself of the layer of sweat coating my body which reminded me of the day Xav had been shot. I slowly pushed the covers back as I slid out of bed, only to be followed by Victor. I paused at the doorway to the bathroom, blinking as the light engulfed the dark room. Victor looked glorious, in just his boxers and his usually sleek hair disheveled from sleeping. I smiled sweetly at him as his eyes adjusted to the bright light and returned to their concerned state as he regarded me.

"You want to join me?" I murmured suggestively, inching closer to him as I did. I wanted his company His eyes widened briefly, as he licked his lips not entirely certain about my actions.

"Soraya, I don't think now –"

I stepped right up against him stopping his husky voice in its tracks, running my hands slowly down from his chest to the top of his boxers, and slipped my fingers under the band and pulled his body flush against mine. He looked up to the ceiling with his eyes closed, trying to resist my advances. He swallowed deeply, before bringing his eyes back to meet mine. I smiled in what I hoped was a seductive way, and slowly backed in the bathroom. I turned my back, and tried to effortlessly pull my t-shirt over my head letting it pool on the floor. My borrowed boxers followed and I stepped into the shower pulling the curtain across leaving Victor stranded in the doorway, obviously torn.

Not 30 seconds later, the shower curtain was drawn back and I was joined in the shower.

The sun rose as I came around from a finally peaceful sleep, entwined in Victor's arms, who was unsurprisingly as naked as I was. He was breathing steadily, his hair lying loose on the pillow after our late night shower. I was still half dozing when a knock made us both wake with a start. After a moment of disorientation, Victor pressed a kiss to my temple before climbing out of the bed. He strolled over to his suitcase for some boxers, looking like a dark haired Adonis. I couldn't help but stare, ignoring the persistent banging on the door. I heard rather than saw him opening the door, as I huddled further under the covers not wanting to be disturbed.

"Oh, Vick darling did I wake you? You missed breakfast, I brought you and Soraya something!" I heard Karla gush. I wasn't getting out of this any time soon. Karla came bustling into the room ladened down with a plate covered in napkins. I sat upright, pulling the covers up tight around my body. Victor followed, shrugging slightly as I threw him a look. "Soraya, sweetheart. Sorry if I woke you!" Karla purred. She proceeded to lay out the food she'd brought us on out table, chattering away as she did. "You know I'm not sure about you two sharing this room, but then you've been through so much recently, I think you deserve some alone time. I know you'll behave you two, Victor's such a gentleman." Karla threw a proud look at her son. She hadn't noticed my lack of clothes yet, and I was desperately thinking what I could do. Victor must have been thinking the same, as making sure his mother had her back to us he nipped over to the suitcase and grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of his boxers for me, grabbing his own top to put on to disguise his actions. He threw them to me quickly, and I wriggled into them under the covers just as Karla turned around.

"Here you go my sweets, eat up!" She announced, clapping her hands together gleefully. "Soraya, are you ok? Yves mentioned he heard you calling out last night, I just wanted to check?" Yves and Phee were in the room adjoining ours, and must have been woken last night.

"I'm fine." I said embarrassedly. "It was just a bad dream."

"I'll look after her mom, don't worry." Victor murmured.

"I know you will darling." Karla said lovingly, patting Victor's cheek as she did. "I'll leave you two to it, see you later!" She said bustling out of the room with as much gusto as she had entered with.

"Thanks for the breakfast!" I managed to call before the door swung shut behind her.


	45. Chapter 44

**A.N - So it's been a while, I hope you all still want to carry on with my story! I'm going to try and update quite a lot in the next while, so please stick with it and leave me a review if you like it!**

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"Ok Soraya. Just answer my questions as best you can." Victor said earnestly, sitting at the breakfast nook across from me. I pulled my attention back to him as the rest of the packed room tried their best to remain unobtrusive.

"O…ok." I stuttered, clearing my throat to at least try and come across as confident. We were back in Xav and Crystal's flat and I was about to dish the dirt on one of the biggest and most difficult to crack savant circles in the world - I was right to be nervous. Victor had his little black notebook poised and opened on the table infront of him. He'd got a new one since I'd last seen it, I noted.

"Ok." He said, laughing to himself for his repetitiveness as he clicked a small recorder on. "I need to know what this savant circle is about, what makes it tick. What they want, why they want it, and how they're going to do it. Who they've got, how they recruit, and the names of the ones in charge. So let's start with the what, ok?"

"Yep. That's a lot." I laughed nervously.

"I know, sorry." Victor said regretfully.

"It's ok. My uncle told me they want, ultimately Savant domination. Savants are gifted, better than humans. Just because we're the minority, why should we bow to them? To be honest I can kind of see that point, why should we?"

Victor's head snapped up immediately at that. He groaned as he flicked the recorder off.

"Soraya it's saying things like that that are going to get you locked up!" He said exasperatedly. "I might not always be there to cover them up, or prompt you. Think before you speak, ok?"

I nodded as I squirmed uncomfortably under Victor's stern words. I'd be surrounded by those thoughts for too long, it was only natural I was coming out with these things.

"Right, so Haseem believes savants should be in charge, should be outed to the world correct?" Victor continued as he turned the recorder back on.

"Yes, and the main barrier to that is the Net. They keep the secret, contain the rogues, you know how it is. Every single one of that savant group despises the Net, and with the Benedicts at the heart, you're number one targets."

"So we know the what, and the why, that leads us on to the how. What were their plans Soraya?"

"I don't know the full extent. All I know, is what my uncle and Razi told me. They weren't planning any devine move yet, just causing a little chaos. If the Nets ops started failing because we make them fail, people will start to lose faith in the Net. They'll look for another leading party, and the Afghani savants would be there waiting." I explained. Victor scribbled this down as I watched.

"It's amazingly brilliant." I heard a voice whisper in a hushed manner. I looked over to see Trace addressing the others around him as they listened on. "It's so simple, but I can see it working. If the Net can't do their job they're not much good." He said matter of factly.

"That leads us onto the who, Soraya." Victor said raising his voice to draw my attention back to him. "Start with Haseem, Haseem Abdali correct?"

"Yes, my uncle was –"

"It wouldn't harm your case if you referred to him Haseem, not your uncle." Victor interrupted me, with a strained voice.

"Right, yes. Haseem." I said willing my brain to catch on and keep up. "Haseem was second in command I suppose, there were a few who could be classed as that beneath Ramin, but Haseem was up there."

"Ramin?" Victor questioned.

"Head honcho, I suppose. Basically the one in charge." I replied. "So Haseem was one of his most trusted men, he's more hands on in the program where as Ramin sits on his throne and delegates. Don't be fooled by my unc- I mean Haseem. He's dangerous, he can fight. He taught me most of what I know." I warned the room at large, in case any of them came into contact with him at any point.

"It's alright, we have precautions in place to deal with their skills." Victor mumbled as his pen glided across the paper in a scrappy handwriting. "Tell me about Ramin."

"Well I never met him, but I was supposed to after we went back. I'd done a lot of valuable work with the Net profiles, it had earned me the privilege so to speak. But Ramin's dangerous too. He set this whole thing up, built it from nothing to what you see now. He has a kind of thought manipulation thing going on."

"Like me?" Victor asked as I sparked his interest with that one.

"Kind of. But it's more manipulation of your own thoughts, he can't create thoughts and plant them in someone's head. So say he met someone with conflicting feelings about joining them." I began in response to the confused looking faces surrounding the room. "If they had the thought to join him, Ramin would be able to isolate that thought and magnify it, effectively persuading the person in question that they want to join. It's how he's amassed such a large circle."

"Scarily useful." Victor murmured as he scribbled away, head cocked slightly to the side. As he finished, he brought his gaze up to meet mine. "And what about Razi, Razi Kamla?" He asked softly, sensing this was a a sensitive subject.

"What about him?" I said quietly, picking at one of my fingernails as I found myself suddenly unable to look at Victor.

"What's his part in this? What's his standing, his abilities?" Victor prompted.

"Just know he's dangerous. He's a mind reader and Haseem's right hand man, has everyone's respect, and could kick my ass into next week ok?" I burbled quickly, not having the heart to elaborate on the man I'd come to trust implicitly.

"Ok." Victor said simply, knowing not to push me any further. He set his pen down and laced his fingers together, evidently building up to say something significant. "Soraya, you should know, Haseem Abdali and Razi Kamla have been granted bail, it seems they're the only two of any interest to the Afghanis. We've got a track on them, but they haven't gone far. They're still here, in the city."

I gaped up at him, my mouth hanging open. "How did they get bail? Do you know who paid it? I don't… Why are they still here? Is it a condition of their bail?" The numerous questions cascaded from my lips without letting my brain engage with my mouth.

"They didn't try to hide it, the bail was wired from an account under the name of R. Kahn, presumably this Ramin you mentioned. I tried to counter the bail plea, but it was approved before I could get a handhold on the situation. It's my guess there was more than just bail money in that transfer." Victor said bitterly, hinting at bribery.

Of course it was Ramin, he was an undeclared multi millionaire, but not through hard graft.

"And these aren't the kind who'd stick around just because their bail demands it Soraya. They'll have no intention of coming back for trial, or doing this the legal way." Victor continued. "They'd have been out of here the second they were released, but they weren't. Which means they have unfinished business here. They want something."

I saw the room visibly become more uncomfortable instantly, shifting in their seats or throwing glances at each other as they all came to the same conclusion I had immediately come to.

"They're still here because of me, aren't they?" I whispered throwing a desperate glance at Victor.

"Yes." Victor replied softly. "What we don't know is if that's in a hostile way, or not. They might still see you as a valuable asset to have, and want you back." Victor continued at my confused expression. "But they might also be out for revenge - you've turned on them and you might not know everything, but you know a hell of a lot Soraya and that could get them in a great deal of trouble."


	46. Chapter 45

**A.N - Thank you so much for the reviews, it's nice to know people are still reading my story after so long! This is a bit of a filler chapter, building up to the next one so bear with it please!**

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I sat in the lounge on my own curled up in the sofa facing the window, mulling over a steaming cup of coffee. Knowing that my uncle and Razi were out there roaming the streets of New York, waiting for me, had me all kinds of confused. I tried to tell myself they didn't want to hurt me – we were family. But I had a suspicion they would choose their precious program and its cause over any family member. I gazed at the swirls of foam sitting on the top of my deep brown coffee as plumes of steam rose up. Deep brown which was the precise colour of Razi's eyes.

Crying out with frustration I slammed my coffee down on the table in front of me, sloshing the hot liquid up over the sides of the mug.

"Hey, easy!" Victor called, as he entered the room just at that moment. I looked across to meet his steely gaze, the opposite of the coffee coloured Razi's. "What is it Soraya?" Victor asked gently as he stepped around the counter to pick up a cloth.

"Nothing." I mumbled as he came over. I watched Victor's long capable hands wrap around my coffee and wipe the bottom of the mug before dealing with the table. He set the cup down with the cloth, and settled on the edge of the table so his head was level with mine.

"I don't believe that for a second Soraya. I'm not stupid." Victor said quietly, eyeing me with concern. I lifted my head to meet his gaze which had melted to silver.

"I want to meet with Razi and Haseem." I said pointedly having just decided that myself.

Victor drew back with a sharp intake of breath, unable to hide his disapproval. "Not a chance." He said as matter of factly as I had spoken.

"Why not?"

"Did you forget the part where I told you they might want to harm you?!"

"No, but I need to know for sure. Come with me if you have to, but I need to know what they want. I can't sit here wondering if they want to take me back to Afghanistan or whether they'll just kill me!" I cried exasperatedly.

Victor exhaled deeply, running his hand through his hair. "Soraya, I can't just let –"

"Let her go Vick." Both Victor and I whipped our heads around to see a crumpled Xav leaning heavily against the door frame into the kitchen. "Pick the place, put a team in there, go with her whatever you need to do but let her go. It's the only way we're gonna get any answers here."

Victor gazed at him for a long moment before turning back around to stare at the floor. "Shouldn't you be in bed Xavier? Where's Crystal?" Victor said sharply.

"My prison guard has gone out shopping for the morning." Xav said shuffling into the kitchen with a grimace. "I'm starving, and you two obviously need a mediator so good thing I came through when I did." He said with a happy grin on his face.

"Your prison guard is just trying to help you get better Xavier." Victor said grumpily as Xav groaned in an attempt to stretch up to reach the bowls in a cupboard.

"Crystal…is so…overprotective." Xav breathed in reply as he gave up, bending over and clutching his stomach as he glared at Victor. "A little help, bro? Or would you like me to rip my stitches out trying to feed myself some humble cereal while you sit having a little spat?"

Victor rolled his eyes at me, heaving himself up to cross the room.

"Sit down Xavier. Before you kill yourself and your prison guard kills me for it."

I smiled in amusement as Xavier flopped down on the sofa opposite me with a wink while Victor set about fixing him his cereal.

"So Soraya, how would you even plan on contacting your dearest Uncle and Razamataz?" Xavier said, his face alive with laughter. I saw Victor throw Xav a glare as he slammed the kitchen drawer a little too hard, rattling all the cutlery loudly. Xav, however was unfazed, and kept smiling at me with his stupid grin. I smiled back, looking down briefly before I replied.

"Well I had my phone, Razi and Haseem will have been given theirs back too. They took mine for evidence, but I'm sure I could get it back if I really needed…" I said hopefully, eyeing Victor as he handed Xav a bowl brimming with cereal.

He froze halfway to handing it over, meeting my gaze. He finally sighed, giving the bowl over and walking back over to the kitchen as he spoke.

"I'll see what I can do. I need to think about it, make plans. Give me a little time." He said quietly. I uncurled my legs to stand and padded over to the kitchen where Victor was tidying up. I slipped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my head on his shoulder blade.

"Thank you." I murmured. I felt his back rise and fall as he took a deep breath, before he squeezed my hand with his, own which was enough for me.

The next day, Victor left me under the supervision of Diamond and Trace and the other girls, to head into HQ to sort out the meeting. I was to get my phone and ring Haseem, and arrange to meet him at the location picked by Victor and his team. As well as Victor, the Benedicts and a team of savants, there were to be uncover armed cops and snipers on the roof. All a little excessive in my opinion, but according to Victor no chances could be taken. I tried to tell him it was highly unlikely either of them would try and kill me in public, and I wasn't exactly helpless myself. But Victor wasn't paying any attention, I was his soulfinder after all.

He came back to the flat late that night, just as I was losing the will to live at Xavier's progressively worsening jokes. My face lit up at the sight of Victor coming through the kitchen doorway carrying a bag across his shoulder. He came over to me immediately, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on my forehead. He lingered for a long moment, before pulling away to set his bag down on the breakfast bar. I watched him intently as he pulled various bits of paper from the bag, and finally a clear plastic bag. He came back over, perching on the sofa arm next to me. He seemed to be reluctant, but eventually handed me the bag in which sat my phone. I slipped it out, not daring to look at Victor as I could practically feel the waves of tension projecting from him. It seemed to take forever to switch on, during which time I looked at each of the anxious faces of the Benedicts surrounding me. I paused on Xavier, who was grinning like an idiot at the tense situation.

The pinging of old messages coming in made everyone start, and drew my attention back to the phone. All messages from Razi. Ignoring them and clearing my throat, I stood up.

"I'll, er, make the call in private, I think." I glanced at Victor for approval, who nodded. The silence lingered until I had moved out of the kitchen into the corridor, when a smattering of conversation started up. I shut myself in the spare room and perched on the bed. My finger hovered over Haseem's number for several moments before I plucked up the courage to ring it. I was sat with it pressed to my ear, listening to the dialling tones when Victor slipped silently in the door with a notepad. I felt the bed dip as he sat behind me, his warm body offering me comfort. He gently pulled the phone away from my ear to press the speaker button on the screen and let me hold it out in front of me as it clicked and an all too familiar voice rang out.

"Soraya, my sweet. I was wondering when I'd be hearing from you again. I do hope you're well sweetheart?" Haseem said. "Or maybe not Soraya, maybe one of your precious Benedicts?"

There was a silence between us as I decided what to say, while Victor sat silently behind me scribbling away.

"No it's me." I said quietly, cringing inwardly at how pathetic my voice sounded. Raising it, I spoke louder. "I heard you got bail." I said unsure of what to say.

"Yes." He replied, in a strained voice. "No thanks to you. Whisked off by your soulfinder, I should have expected it really."

"Why are you still in New York Haseem?" I said, fed up of his nonchalant manner.

"It's a condition of our bail-"

"Don't give me that." I laughed sarcastically, cutting him off. "You and I both know you'd have been out of America as soon as possible, damn the law!"

"I've missed that smart mouth of yours Soraya." I could tell he was smiling as he spoke. "If you really want to know, we're waiting for you to come to your senses and return to us."

And there it was. The reason for their lingering presence in my life.

"I want to meet with you Haseem. You and Razi." I was proud of myself for not choking over the last name.

"Meet us? You mean so you and your band of brothers can take us down again, I don't think so."

"It could just be me." Victor, who had been silently scribbling down every word exchanged up to that point gave a grunt of indignation. I ignored him, carrying on the conversation. "If you want to see me, 2 o'clock tomorrow, corner of 52nd street. I'll meet you both outside the building there, alone."

"Quite demanding aren't we? We'll be there, but bring your Benedict with you. I'd quite like to meet my nieces soulfinder, outside of the interrogation room that is." I felt Victor relax slightly at the this.

"Fine." I said grudgingly. "We'll see you there." I finished.

"Till tomorrow, sweet Soraya." Haseem said before hanging up. I heard muffled speaking before he did, someone who could only be Razi. I hesitated in hanging up, yearning to hear a snippet of Razi's voice.

"Good job. That was well handled baby." Victor said masking any sound from the phone. He pressed a kiss into my hair from behind, while squeezing my hip with one of his hands. "Although, there's not a chance you were going alone. I'm glad he wants me there."

"I'm not!" I complained, twisting round to face Victor. "Why does he want you there? He's planning something to take you out, he must be."

"Stop thinking like a soldier for one minute. You don't need to worry about me baby, let me do the worrying." He breathed, framing my face with his hands as he smiled reassuringly at me. "Besides, you can kick ass now. You can protect me." He joked, leaning in to kiss me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and wound one hand into his silky hair, holding him to me as he kissed me. I broke it, and buried my face in his neck as we continued to hold each other. He really was all that I needed.


	47. Chapter 46

Victor and I were standing on the corner of a quiet street in an industrial area, surrounded by abandoned warehouses and buildings, which were now filled with Victor's sniper team and undercover cops. I knew the Benedicts were also camped out in a nearby building, ready to spring into action if Haseem and Razi posed any threat to Victor or I.

I glanced at my watch for the hundredth time. Still 4 minutes to go. Victor had already talked me out of thinking they weren't coming to meet us several times, and had now given up, resorting to simply holding my hand, soothingly rubbing his thumb over the back of mine as I fretted. I was bundled up in a fluffy scarf borrowed from Diamond with a matching woolly headband and was still feeling the chill. I tried convincing Victor I was restless from the cold, when really I was nervous in anticipation for the meeting.

Victor and I were standing on the corner of a quiet street in an industrial area, surrounded by abandoned warehouses and buildings, which were now filled with Victor's sniper team and undercover cops. I knew the Benedicts were also camped out in a nearby building, ready to spring into action if Haseem and Razi posed any threat to Victor or I.

I was about to call it a day when a firm squeeze on my hand and Victor's voice drew my attention to the opposite direction I'd been looking.

"Soraya…" Victor said in a quiet, low voice. I spun around to see three figures crossing the road to come onto the pavement on our side. Two, were without a doubt Haseem and Razi, and the other...

"You!" I proclaimed jumping forwards as the group approached and I got a clear look at the third person.

"See you haven't smartened up your mouth yet sweetheart." Miles leered with a sickening grin on his face as I stalked towards him. The words were barely out of his mouth before I had curled my fingers into a fist and fired my hand at his face, taking great pleasure in the crunch which followed as Miles was knocked to the floor howling in pain. I shook my hand out as I stared him down, cowering in the floor as he clutched his nose. I swore I heard Victor snigger behind me as Haseem stared me down himself.

" _Who is he, Soraya?_ " Victors amused voice floated into my head.

" _Miles. The one who kidnapped me in Aspen."_ I replied without taking my eyes off the sprawling man on the floor.

" _Brilliant_." Victor said before I felt him leave my head to switch to another wavelength of telepathy, presumably making sure the right people received this information.

"I told you she wouldn't be happy." A smiling Razi delivered in his smooth velvet deep voice layered with his afghani accent. I made the mistake of letting my eyes stray onto Razi, roaming over his muscular tanned body and nearly drowning in his rich coffee eyes. His natural warmth radiated out of him, consuming me and drawing me back in as easily as it had shut me off before. The only thing to break our moment was his voice, hardening as he addressed the still mewling Miles on the floor at our feet. "Get up you coward. You can't complain, it's not like it's going to have made you any more ugly."

I couldn't help but smile at Razi's comment, just like the old days. We would mess about, laugh at pointless things and tease anyone who gave us the slightest opportunity to. His gleaming eyes met mine as he winked, clearly sharing my thoughts.

"Maybe it would be best for you to wait in the car, Miles?" Haseem said, smiling kindly at the man in the floor. Miles clambered to his feet, mumbling something about his broken nose and suing me - in his dreams! He skulked off down the street the way he'd arrived, disappearing into the distance. A good thing in my opinion – I didn't trust myself not to kill the rat.

"Mr Abdali, Victor Benedict." The harsh voice of Victor from behind broke my attention as he took his place next to me placing a possessive hand on the small of my back. He offered his right hand to my uncle.

"Mr Benedict. What a pleasure to see you again, and in slightly better circumstances I must add." Haseem replied, grasping Victors hand in his own briefly.

"Well it remains to be seen if the circumstances are better, Mr Abdali." Victor replied coolly.

I monitored the interaction closely – Haseem was in full flow, Mr authoritative with his smooth talk and commanding demeanour, like he was used to performing in Afghanistan. But Victor was Mr cool, refusing to let the uneven numbers and fancy words intimidate him. He was smart as well, and knew how to come across in situations like this. For the first time, I was glad of his presences at the meeting. I'd have already messed things up, nobody had even spoken a word and I'd lost my cool and punched Miles. I quickly realised I was losing myself to Razi again, and decided to step back and let Victor handle the situation. He would get the answers we needed hopefully without provoking either of the men.

I stepped back as Victor turned his attention to Razi, and tensed as he offered his hand once more.

"Mr Kamla." Victor said tersely with a slight nod, as Razi clenched his large tanned hand around Victors. My eyes were drawn to their bound hands, two of the most important men in my life joined together for a brief second. It wasn't as diplomatic as I wanted it to be however, with both men using the opportunity to size each other up. I could see each one of them squeezing the others hand in a show of machismo. I rolled my eyes, unbeknown to Victor but caught by the sharp Razi, who laughed causally, releasing Victors hand and stepping back to run a hand through his hair while still smiling his spine tingling smile.

"Mr Abdali, I'm aware you've come here with the intention of reclaiming Soraya to return to Afghanistan with her." Victor began, getting a handhold on the situation. "Off the books, you and I both know you won't be sticking to the conditions of your bail so don't even bother pretending so. And secondly, Soraya will not be returning to your home country with you under any circumstances." He said finally. He stared Haseem down, his expression not faltering once as Haseem's phased slowly into one of amusement.

"And what does Soraya have to say about this?" Haseem replied, dragging his gaze slowly over to my own. I could feel Razi's eyes boring in to me, anticipating my reply as I returned Haseem's gaze.

"Exactly that." I said finally, trying to sound confident in my answer. "I don't want to go back, and I don't want to be part of your programme." I saw Razi's look of pure hurt and betrayal in my peripheral, and swallowed deeply as I refused to let the tears threatening to show themselves come. "Surely you could work that out for yourself? You took me against my will, at gunpoint for that matter, to a country I have nothing but bad memories of, and you expect me to be happy?" I said losing my nerve slightly.

Razi seemed to lose it too, turning his back to me as he cried out in frustration, walking a few steps before swinging back around.

"What about all that we shared Soraya? Are you telling me that was all nothing? All a show? Somehow I don't think so." He exclaimed as he came to me, grasping my upper arms as his eyes searched my face. He shook me gently as he spoke, almost urging me to feel.

"I don't think you'll be breathing much longer if you don't take your hands off her right now!" A suddenly ferocious Victor snarled appearing at my shoulder, his words aimed threateningly at Razi. I had never heard such protectiveness or aggression in Victor's usually calm voice before, and in all honesty it scared me.

"You would do well not to speak to me like that, Benedict. If you know what's good for you." Razi replied calmly but with no attempt to hide the threat in his voice, without removing his eyes from mine but tilting his head slightly towards Victor.

"I know what's not good for you is your hands still on my soulfinder!" Victor replied with just as much menace as before.

"I'll take my hands off, so I can show you not to mess with me!" Razi said as he raised his hands and angled his body towards Victor. I knew without doubt Victor was no match for Razi and I was not about to let my soulfinder come to harm.

As Razi sunk into position I twisted around to put myself between the two men and quickly scanned for the sign of where Razi was aiming and launched a defensive as the twitch of his bicep and glance of his eyes to Victor's stomach gave him away. All this within a mere few seconds. I simply blocked the attack, not wanting to provoke Razi further and ended up grasping his wrist as he pulled me in to his broad chest, looking up into his swirling brown eyes as I spoke softly.

"Stop, Razi. Please." I said as I relaxed my grip with his softening eyes. His shoulders sagged as he failed to resist my plea, and I stepped back satisfied the bout was, at least for now, controlled.

"You're not taking her back." Victor growled once more, winding a hand around my front and pulling me gently into him so my back was pressed against his front. A possessive display to empathise his words.

"You see the problem we have now Mr Benedict is Soraya here knows too much, and I don't think for a second that she'll keep her mouth shut about what she knows, if she hasn't already spilt the beans." Haseem said, speaking for the first time since the boys display, showing no signs of distress or annoyance. "I can't simply let her walk away from us so you leave me with no option, I'm afraid. Believe it's gives me no pleasure to take a life needlessly, especially one of a family member but sweet Soraya, I have no choice." He said spreading his hands out in apology. His face was falsely apologetic, and the only thing keeping me from stepping out and slapping it was Victor's strong hand on my stomach.

"I'm not going to let that happen either Mr Abdali." Victor said almost sarcastically, increasing the pressure of his hand as if in preparation to pull me behind him.

"I see we have a problem here Victor."

"No shit!" I snarled, breaking my silence as my tongue got the better of me. Haseem smiled vaguely at me, opening his mouth to speak before Razi cut him off.

"May I speak with you alone Soraya? May I speak to her?" Razi asked quickly, directing the second question to Haseem.

Sighing, Haseem deliberated for a few seconds.

"I don't see what good it will do she's as stubborn as her father but by all means, talk away." He replied with an absent wave of his hand at us.

"Soraya?" Razi asked gently, holding his arm out to indicate me to go first.

I chewed my lip as I thought, before turning to Victor as I backed away.

"I'll be two minutes, it's fine I promise." I said confidently as Victor made to protest. I didn't allow him to speak as I turned and walked about 50 metres down the pavement, in the direction of the snipers who I knew would be now split between two targets as they followed me. I wanted to give them no reason to harm Razi, so maintained a relaxed stance as I took a deep breath to turn and face him.

"What is it Raz?" I asked purposefully using my pet name for him in an attempt to keep him on my good side.

"You're being an idiot, Soraya. Why are you doing this to us, to me?" He replied, genuinely hurt as he lent his muscular frame against the building on his right.

"Because…. This is what I want! I don't belong in Afghanistan, I'm no warrior Razi."

"I think you're wrong there. You have no idea how much you are suited to our life." He said with a small laugh. "You do realise Haseem will kill you, uncle or not. I can't protect you from him, and it's tearing me apart because I can't see you hurt!"

I could see the betrayal written across his face, his eyes swimming with tears. I reached up and framed his face with my hands, trying to remain in control of my own tears.

"Razi he's my soulfinder." I whispered gently. "I can't leave him, not again."

"But you could! Think about it – you'd be training, you'd be out on ops, you'd have a team, you might even become a leadership candidate you're that good!" He urged me as he in turn grasped my face in his hands. "You'd have me." He said nervously, dropping his gaze for a second. I studied his kind face for serval long moments as he waited for my reaction.

"Oh Razi…" I whispered.

"Don't." He said shaking his head, before closing the distance and melding his impossibly soft lips with mine. I didn't have time to react before I was enveloped in his incredible warmth, his hot lips on mine the only thought in my mind. He poured his heart into the kiss, in an attempt to convey the love he felt for me. I'd always sworn we were nothing but friends, not even realising his feelings for me until Kat had told me. But now in this moment, the feelings I had for Razi were blurring and I doubted myself.

I have no idea how long I let Razi kiss me before I came to my senses but he was taking everything he could get. I finally pulled away, my hand flying to my swollen lips as I dropped my gaze to the pavement. I couldn't bring myself to look at Victor, it would probably break me. Razi remained silent and unmoving in front of me, monitoring my reaction. Finally, I brought my eyes back up to meet his.

"I'm sorry Raz. I can't."

I stepped around him refusing to let the tears flow, determined to at least pretend to Victor I was unaffected by that kiss. I felt awful for even letting it happen for more than a second, and I couldn't even imagine how Victor would react. I finally risked a glance at him as I approached, his eyes as hard as steel and face visibly strained. I begged him with my eyes to accept my silent apology as I stood beside him. He said nothing, either out loud or telepathically to me but simply took my hand in his.

"We'll be going now, Mr Abdali." He said tersely, glancing around at the rooftops where our backup was waiting. Haseem must have picked up on this, as he laughed hysterically in a short burst.

"Oh Mr Benedict, do you honestly believe for one second that I intend on doing anything here, when I am fully aware you have no fewer than three snipers trained on us and no doubt your precious family tucked away ready to ride to the rescue at a moments notice? Do you take me for a fool, Victor?"

"Anything but, Mr Abdali." Victor replied before pulling me away across the road. I glanced wildly over my shoulder at the dejected Razi who had remained unmoved, as Victor marched me at an impressive pace to where we'd parked the car. He held the door open and all but pushed me into the car before crossing infront to get in the drivers side.

The last thing I remember seeing was Haseem with his arm on an obviously distraught Razi's shoulder in a show of comfort. I'd successfully broken two of the men I cared about more than anyone.

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 **A.N - I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know a lot of you love Razi, so this chapters for you Razi fans! Please please leave me a review and lemme know your thoughts!**


	48. Chapter 47

**A.N - So it's been a while, but I've finally found the time and inspiration to carry on the story! I hope everyone will stick with it, and continue to support me with all the amazing comments and most importantly I hope you enjoy reading some more Victor - Soraya - Razi drama!**

* * *

Victor and I didn't utter a word to each other for the whole car ride back to the flat. The hurt was written all over his face and I could see his hands clenched as tight as vices around the steering wheel. Every time I looked at him the knots tightened in my stomach and I felt sick. Not just a slight nausea - I felt gut wrenchingly, stomach achingly sick, so much so I all but sprinted to the toilet as soon as we pulled up outside the flat.

Thankfully I didn't have to go through the living room to reach the bathroom so I avoided the questioning which would surely have been thrust upon me from the other Benedicts. I was dry heaving into the toilet, my body not allowing me to rid myself of my nauseous feeling, when Victor came into the flat. He paused in the bathroom doorway as he took me in, curled over the toilet, before he sighed and came to me. Gently, he pulled my hair behind my shoulders as he soothingly rubbed my back. I vaguely recalled Victor conversing with someone in the corridor to send them away as we waited for my body to stop heaving and shaking. The only plus side of my episode was it at least showed to Victor how much guilt I was carrying over that kiss.

"Well at least I know you'll never be able to cheat on me." Victor uncharacteristically joked. I lifted my head off the toilet seat high enough to glare at him for a few seconds, before my aching core caused me to slump once more. "Sorry. That was distasteful. Soraya, I can't pretend I'm happy about that jerk taking advantage and kissing you like that, but it's obvious you feel terrible for it. And you stopped it. That's good enough for me."

I looked at him sideways, with my cheek still smushed against the toilet seat.

"Why are you so perfect?" I whispered eventually with tears threatening to fall.

"I'm anything but perfect." He replied with a laugh. "We all make mistakes, it's about forgiving those mistakes and moving on. I can do that if you can, not just now but in our future, and during the rest of our lives. Its not going to be perfect but it can be perfect for us, if you want it to be?" He stood up as he finished, offering me his hand. I gazed up at him, finally finding the strength to raise my head, my eyes glistening with tears. As he pulled my aching body up off the floor into his arms I nodded, sniffling into his jumper when he wrapped me in his arms.

There we stood, until a loud cough interrupted our embrace. Lifting his head to look over mine at the doorway, Victor gave a loud groan.

"You're developing a really annoying habit of walking in on us Xavier." Victor said unenthusiastically.

"Well, my spidey senses were tingling." Xavier replied with a glint in his eye, continuing at the confused glance I threw him. "I'm that amazing I can just feel when someone's not well, like you heaving your guts up into the toilet. Doctor Xav plus healing hands here to help!" He joked, waggling his fingers at me.

"That or Uri told you when he came to see earlier." Victor grumbled.

"Well, there's that too but can't we just pretend I have spidey senses in front of the lady bro?" Xav mumbled out of the side of his mouth nodding towards me, as if he were speaking for his brothers ears only.

I couldn't help giggling at his goofing, pulling away from Victor as I did. He kept a supportive arm looped around my waist which I was grateful for, since standing was proving difficult with my fatigued body.

"Honestly Xav, I'm not ill. Nothing came up, I'm fine now!" I said confidently, hoping I wasn't swaying.

"You give that display and you say you're not ill?" Xav guffawed, nodding to the toilet. "Cmon, lemme check you over princess." He pushed off the door frame to make towards me.

"Xav don't. There's no need I promise. Besides you barely have the energy to stand, don't waste it healing me when there's nothing to heal!" I trilled, fully aware I was in danger of sounding like his mother, or Crystal. It stopped his advance at least, with him studying my face for a brief moment.

"Alright, if you're sure! Get your butts through to the lounge though. Don't make me drag you through here!" He called over his shoulder as he hobbled from the bathroom.

"I'd love to see you try Xav!" Victor called after him.

"Oh I do love a good challenge Vicky, don't tempt me!" Xav replied, desperate to have the last say as usual.

Sighing, Victor turned his attention back to me.

"If you want to rest, I'll deal with the others, they got back just after us. You can have a lie down in the spare room?" He said kindly, gently brushing my hair back off my face as he did.

"No. No it's ok." I insisted, pulling away to lean against the sink. "Let me just have a minute." I attempted to fix my disheveled hair as Victor watched on, not entirely trusting my body to behave I presumed. He offered his hand as I pushed off the sink, smiling as he did. Before we fully left the bathroom I stopped him with a tug on his hand.

"Vick." I began softly. "I just want you to know, what happened early, with Razi, that… kiss, it meant nothing. I swear." I gazed at him, begging him silently with my eyes to understand.

He swallowed deeply before replying.

"It's ok, I told you. He kissed you, not the other way round. But I need to know, was there anything between you two in Afghanistan? I won't be angry," he continued as I began to jump in. "I just need to know Soraya, please."

"There was nothing, Vick. I promise, I never saw him as anything more than a friend. I didn't even know he… loved me until Kat told me a few days ago. He surprised me too yesterday."

Victor's jaw clenched slightly as I spoke, the only sign he wasn't entirely happy with my revelation. Of course he wasn't - I'd just told him his soulfinder was loved by another man. But he hid it well, forcing a smile to grace his lips as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"That's ok then." He whispered as he guided me down the corridor.

Once in the living room, Trace was in cop mode immediately.

"What happened down there? We lost sight of Soraya when she went off with that guy! That was reckless Vick, anything could of happened!" He began, evidently wound up. Victor glanced at me, both of us coming to the same conclusion. The Benedicts hadn't seen my interaction with Razi and so they hadn't seen the kiss. And that's the way it would stay.

"It's fine Trace. I could see her the whole time, the snipers too. It's something she needed to do." Victor supplied for me.

"And I trust Razi!" I jumped in with. "My uncle, not so much but Razi would never hurt me."

The Benedicts in the room threw glances at each other following my statement.

"I know him! You might not believe me, but Razi and I shared a lot in Afghanistan. He was there when I had no one else and I would trust him with my life." I finished.

"Yes Soraya, but you need to realise the rest of us, we have no reason to trust him. But we have every reason not to! We're just thinking of your safety." Diamond said softly, ever the peacemaker.

"We forgetting he shot Xav…?" A sheepish Will added from the corner.

"Will." Victor warned.

"No, he's right." I countered. "Razi did shoot Xavier and a part of me will never forgive him for it but that wasn't me. He would never hurt me. I wasn't putting anyone in danger by talking to him today and I knew that."

"Now now. No need to get worked up here. Everyone is fine, Soraya is fine, let us move on!" Karla jumped in with having remained silent until now. She bustled into the centre of the room to retrieve empty cups and plates. "Let us make some coffee, and we will chat." She declared, retiring to the kitchen and shooing Uriel out as she did.

"I second that!" Sky chirped, hopping up from floor where she'd been curled up. "Although I'm making tea, anyone else?"

Phee and I immediately laughed, our English tendencies appearing.

"Definitely tea for me!" Phoenix breathed.

"And me please." I added with a nervous laugh. A cup of tea always fixed everything.


	49. Chapter 48

Cups of tea and coffee in hand, the whole family sat in a hushed silence, after Victor had explained the outcome of the meeting. Everyone appeared to be in shock following the revelation that my own uncle would actually stoop as low as to kill me.

"It shouldn't be a shock." Victor stated to the room at large. " Maybe to a close family such as ours, but not Haseem, or Ramin Kahn especially. That's why this savant circle has survived so long."

"They're ruthless." Diamond murmured to no one in particularly, eyes glassed over as she pointlessly stared out at a spot on the carpet.

"Exactly." Victor agreed with a nod towards Diamond.

"What can we do?" A worried Tarryn asked.

"Well firstly we clear Soraya. We can't do anything about convicting those savants until she has a full pardon or she'll go down with them." Victor supplied.

"Well we go from there. No point worrying about anything until we sort that." Saul said, adding his impossibly deep tone to the conversation.

"Yes, I like the sound of that." Diamond finished as she heaved herself up off the sofa. One hand was softly cradling underneath her very large belly as she shuffled towards the door. "Now, I think I'll go and have a rest if that's ok Crystal? It's not easy carrying around this stomach." She joked, evidently hoping to hide the obvious pain she was experiencing.

"Of course, is everything ok?" Her concerned sister asked as Diamond paused in the doorway leaning heavily against the frame clutching her stomach. Diamond nodded several times as she remained unmoving, eyes closed as she gave out little puffs of breath. Trace was by her side the instant she had stopped against the door, soothingly rubbing his hand on her lower back and murmuring gently in her ear.

"Yes, yes it's fine." Diamond managed after she returned to standing upright grasping onto Trace's hand. "It's just a little practise pain is all!" She replied brushing it off with a wave of the hand. The whole family threw concerned looks at each other as Diamond returned them with a smile. Trace was eying her with great concern, before turning his head towards the others without taking his eyes off his soulfinder.

"Xav can you…?" He said hoping Xavier would get the message.

"I'm there." He replied immediately, grimacing as he hoisted himself up off the sofa. He himself was in pain but wouldn't see his brothers soulfinder go without his help - he was as steady as a cart horse when the occasion called.

"Honestly you needn't have bothered him Trace, he's in more pain than I am!" Diamond clucked as Xav came forwards herding them towards his room.

"It's no problem Di." We heard Xav saying as he and Trace ushered her down the hall. "I'm not much use for anything else right now anyway!" He laughed before his voice was cut off.

"I hope she's ok…" I murmured softly to Victor beside me on the sofa. He gazed down at me as my words drew his attention, and his arm around my shoulder squeezed tightly for a second.

"Don't worry, Xav's got it covered." He replied reassuringly. Around the room similar conversations were happening between the other couples who were all of course worried for Diamond and her baby.

Several long minutes later, Xavier shuffled back into the living room and all heads turned towards him.

"Won't be long till we have a baby Benedict crawling around." He managed to declare through his Cheshire Cat grin.

"Is it coming now?!" Karla shrieked as she leapt up from her seat.

"No no no, not yet! She's resting just now, course Trace won't leave her side!" Xav laughed as Karla clutched a hand to her chest in relief. "But it won't be long, at couple of days most."

"How do you know?" Yves asked.

"Spidey senses!" Xav replied, throwing a wink in my direction.

"Glad to know we have an expert around for the future." Victor grumbled from the corner of his mouth just low enough that Xav missed it. It earned a tinkling laugh from myself.

That evening, I stayed late at the flat talking babies with a recovered Diamond and the other girls. While I'd been in Afghanistan, Trace and Diamond had managed to meet Diamonds particular tastes and had somehow purchased all the necessary items for the upcoming arrival. From my experience with the pram shopping, it wouldn't have been easy and I was amazed Trace still had all his hair.

I walked back to the hotel several hours later with Phoenix, Tarryn and Sky, after Diamond had gone home earlier to get plenty of rest. I could hear Victor's voice through the door as I slipped the key card into the slot. He was stood by the window and spun around as I entered, his face strained and clutching his phone to his ear.

"That's fine, I'll see you tomorrow." He said sharply into the phone as soon as he had turned around and hung up immediately, leaving me puzzled.

"Who are you seeing tomorrow?" I asked flopping down on the bed on my stomach. I rested my head on my hands with my elbows propped up on the bed.

"Just someone at work." He replied, sitting down next to me and putting his hands gently on my back as he rubbed my tense muscles.

I took his explanation without question, despite his less than convincing façade. He wasn't acting normally, but I took it as his stress with working on the case. I was too tired to think otherwise. My eyes were drooping as Victors skilled fingers worked loose the knots in my back.

"Time for bed sleepy head." He murmured but didn't still his fingers. He seemed to be enjoying touching me as much as I was enjoying being touched. But eventually, I had to give in to the blanket of sleep which was slowly engulfing me, and somehow dragged myself into the bathroom to brush my teeth and change into my pyjamas, and curled into Victor's side as I gave in.

The next day Victor disappeared for several hours, presumably to meet the mystery person from the phone but I was too busy studying the script he'd left for me to memorise to prepare for the hearing, which had been set for less than a week from now, once again thanks to Victors connections. At least I wouldn't have to hang around waiting for the verdict for months. I had no idea what Victor had planned if he didn't manage to swing it for me, but I highly doubted this would be the outcome when Victor could have his way with his gift. He'd tried to avoid a court case entirely but his bosses had insisted - the judge himself was to be a savant and so everything would come out.

The run up to the date was eventful – Diamond went into labour 4 days before in the early hours of the morning and probably woke the entire hotel up in the process. Her and Trace had considered returning to Denver for the birth, but decided against it to be with family, more specifically healer Xavier and her sister. Both were by her side before the ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital, with Xav overseeing proceedings until the paramedics tooh over. He assured everyone all was fine, and he'd be ready on hand incase anything did go wrong. This was how the entire Benedict family came to be camped out in the maternity wing waiting room, some jittery with excitement and others softly sleeping. It was several hours later, when a weary but overjoyed Trace emerged from the delivery room, still sporting his blue scrubs and cap.

"It's a boy!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms open as he did. The man couldn't keep the grin off his face as we all jumped up, immediately lively and excited despite the hour and our dozing. Karla was the first to scurry off into the delivery room, dragging an emotional Saul behind her. Crystal was also hot on their heels, to see her sisters first child.

"Did you pick a name?" Sky asked enthusiastically.

"Max. Max Oliver Benedict." Trace replied proudly to a chorus of 'awws' from his family. This was going to be one spoilt baby!

The next few days flew by as the whole family became enraptured by the little bouncing boy Trace and Diamond had christened Max. There was defiantly no shortage of babysitters. However the couple had decided to take their son home soon after my court hearing, wanting to stay and support but also wanting to have some alone time to bond with him.

"I'm so sorry we won't be here to help with everything Soraya!" Diamond gushed to me the night before the hearing. She was cradling Max in her arms as she swayed him gently to sleep.

"It's ok Di, I understand of course. Max has to come first, I have all the others too. And I have Victor. You know he'll do anything to sort this." I reassured her.

"I know, I know. I would just like to be here for you, you're family after all. But I also feel like I need Max out of the way, especially as he might be a target for your uncle since he knows about him." Diamond said tentatively. That was seen as one of the biggest threats since I'd told Haseem about Diamond's pregnancy.

"I understand." I replied gloomily dropping my gaze. Not a single part of me felt good about betraying Diamond like I had done in Afghanistan.

"Hey what's done is done now Soraya." Diamond said as she reached across and rubbed my upper arm gently. "I hold nothing against you, you should know." I smiled gratefully up at her, but it was small and I didn't feel it. Sensing this, Diamond grinned at me. "Want to hold him?"

I glanced up to look at the perfect sleeping baby in her arms.

"Only if you're sure it won't wake him?" The last thing I wanted was a screaming baby on my conscience.

"He's out for the count, he won't have a clue!" Diamond laughed easily and lent forward to deposit Max onto me without giving me an option. As I settled him into the cradle of my arms, I gazed down at his little wrinkled face, and I felt butterflies in my stomach at the prospect of one day cradling my own children. I'd never felt the pull before now, but then again I'd never really interacted with any babies and I'd never fully considered having children since meeting my soulfinder. I was still gazing down at the tiny human I was cuddling when I heard someone else enter the living room, and looked up to lock eyes with Victor. He was studying the two of us with great intensity, his eyes liquid silver softness. He came quietly to my side and stood close, resting his hand gently on top of the baby as I held him. I could only imagine he was picturing the moment we held our own baby in our arms, just like I had been earlier. Diamond had tactfully slipped into the kitchen area to allow Victor and I our moment whilst still keeping an eye on her son. Neither of us said a word, we didn't need to. But for once I found myself hoping beyond hope that the trust I had in Victor to get me through the next day and the rest ahead of that was enough so that one day we would be stood here with our own baby.

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 **A.N - Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it and like the introduction of the newest Benedict to this story! Please leave a review, I love to hear your thoughts on the story!**


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